#Journal - SocialMe
Thanks to Facebook, I’ve had a “reminder” today about my online/offline presence, by way of a "name-card", specifically one I had printed back in 2012, where I had not listed my Instagram account on - for which ironically an image I had Instagrammed - because I had signed on the platform after the cards were printed!
(ASIDE: Quite "scary" that FB remembers EVERYTHING you've posted, innit?)
Not for the lack of "interest" in Instagram though, but for having the lack of opportunity to do so before, but because I could after receiving a hand-me-down iPhone 3 from my younger brother! "Delayed by Technology", alas, was my excuse ~ LOL #truestory
Fast forward to today, nearly six years later, I am addicted to my Instagram, which is primarily one of my main source of cyber-contact to the wwworld-at-large - with 17.5K organic follows, and having a absolute blast IG-ing out to said-wwworld (versus my personal IG at less than 500 follows, which is all good and dandy :p) - and has become a source of pride, and an example of "success" in my little notebook, in my little corner of the wwworld.
And no, not "monetary"-success, I insist (I am not smart enough to monetise my cyberlife)... but admittedly in a more "selfish" aspect of my own personal life...
I've always been looking out for fellow like-minded folks, since teenhood, with drifting in and out (unsuccessfully) of cliques and circles that I've always felt I never truly belonged in/to, but "had" to belong "somewhere", because "peer pressure", and abject crippling lack of "self-confidence".
It was not really until my last years of studying Interior Design, and doing my National Service subsequently when I grew out of the need to "belong" and have instead grown into being comfortable with myself and what I liked - be it thru circumstance or self-preservation - then powering thru working-life in the decades following, regrettably holding onto my selfish "likes" and unfortunately not keeping a whole lot of friends through the paths I'd chosen ... aaaahhhh but the ones that chose to remain "friends"? #GOLD.
I've never been known as the "popular guy", nor have I ever mastered the social aspect of "friends", or even deal (understatement), having focused my energies thru the decades on picking-up and (selfishly) buffering my own "self-confidence" - and for a period, my evolved self-arrogance powered and fueled me through my own career too.
I've become and perhaps remain still, a "All-In" sort of wannabe-achiever, but alas I had let my self-doubt return pot-Stroke, and have since accepted it as my "mistress" than being a mortal nemesis ... aaaand the #sobstory never ends, does it? hahahahahaha ... but how can it? When I am living it every day, innit? :p
These days, the "clique" I had always been searching for in my youth, has evolved into "like-minded hobbyists", and folks who populate my Instagram and Facebook - beyond my own small group(s) of (decades old) friends, and I am every grateful for the chance, no b.s. :)
Social media has allowed me the chance to "connect", with the notion of "clique" (a word since vanquished from my vocabulary)! Okay, perhaps regulated into a darker corner at the back of my mind lah ... or at least not something I'd actively search for? Heh.
I have been told I "should make more of an effort", to which I can only say "friendship is a two-way road" ... I remembered times when I had to double my efforts to keeping up my pace to match folks walking in-front of me, in group outings - not long after surviving Stroke - struggling hard to do so, pushing myself ... and remembered some folks would actually turn back, and stopped to wait for me to catch up, and I will always remain grateful, not for the "pity" I would demand from folks (NEVER pity), but of the conscientious consideration for folks who are not up to pace with the world, someone whom I've become.
And if I cannot keep up, even after pushing myself, then perhaps I'd be less disappointed in both myself, or people around me, if I kept to my pace. Blessed be the folks who chose to lessen their speed to walk beside me, even of only for a short time :)
No, I do not think folks can survive "without friends", but sometimes I do think "folks can survive with me"... and they do! I am not disillusioned to think the "world revolves around me", FFS! hahahaha ... but I do not think that "the world should wait for me", and it is up to me to choose to catch up to the world, or maybe sometimes slacken my pace whenever I need to :p
Perhaps that is one of the appeals that social media holds for me. There is never truly a "real time" attached to what you do (besides "live" streaming etc), and that folks can indeed visit your stream at anytime to visit/see images you've uploaded/status shared, and still enjoy/like them.
I've never been on Snapchat, and hence never been addicted to the need to constantly find content to present within a 24hour period (*stress*), so rambling on IG and FB has become more my speed, at my pace, and that appeals to me muchly :)
Serendipitously, I had opened up my Vero account today - out of curiosity and before finding out the FB-reminder - to "find out" it has been nearly 2 weeks since my last upload on the new social platform, which I had actually forgotten about its existence :p ... Actually how could it be that I am not following anyone? LOL
Then I am reminded of my since-long-abandoned Ello account, and of my cyber-squatting ways, starting with my LiveJournal blog, my MySpace, Multiply and other defunct www-locales ... and how can we ever forget "Friendster"? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
“Social media” has become and is indeed a time consuming effort, whether you like it or not, even if it means a post a day, a post every few, or even multiple posts a day. I’ve always felt it has become a “job” by itself - the curation of the image, the proper description of the image - of course this is not for the true-blue unplanned snaps ... do these even exist anymore? LOL ... so much so it may well be a “side-job” ...
Thinking about the evolution of blogging as a "news-site" style of online venues, I have seen (as TOYSREVIL) the days where folks promoted themselves via toy-forums and their own MySpace, and of course blog-sites - which thankfully included mine, for a period of time - my "blog heydays", as I lovingly remembered, and seeing folks going back to promoting themselves again via their own personal social media streams (and lesser inbox headsup for my blog), is no longer much of a surprise, I reckon (*I believe in "cycles" - NOT "bicycles", but of the cycle of actions and reactions humanity makes and is engaged in :p).
But I guess the appeal to be in control of "their" own promotion(s) at their/your own time and speed outweighs having news platform sites like #TOYSREVIL feature them/work for them/promote them, for “free” no less :p ... but hey, the beauty of social media, is that it provides folks a “choice” - to either ally themselves to specific sites, or shoring up their own foundations, so it’s all good in da toyhood hahaha
For myself, the “ease of upload” outweighs the need to be “instantly seen” - as in the case of the algorithms be tweaked and re-tweaked, as I’ve always considered that if your stream and content has images to retain the attention of both existing viewers, and for new folks who discover your channel/stream, then its a venue worth retaining and promoting. I truly appreciate all the folks and their support on My IG and Facebook streams! xoxoxo
Also, nothing is ever for "free", and I've since chosen to not stress over what essentially is a "service" I am not (directly) paying cashmoney for .. well, except with my info-data and cyber-life being harvested and farmed hahahaha #funnynotfunnyatall
Be that as it may, we continue to invest time and effort (not money, except for paying for wifi and bandwidth :p) and upload personal images and status-changes while continuingly being sucked deeper and deeper into the cyberwwworld, willingly and with abandon MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ... now if only my YouTube stream could be more effective than his younger wwwbrother lol
#wwwlife #bloglife
Cheers
Andy
hahaha yo! got me a hand-me-down iPhone 3 from my younger brother - so gotta get with the Instagram! lol
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