As we have only just met, I should let you know that I don't have a Facebook or Twitter account but I did recently open a Linked In account to which I log onto maybe once a week... if I think about it. I enjoy the occasional music video on YouTube. Do I sound a little abnormal yet? Most people my age would say yes. So how is it possible for a 25 year old to live such an outrageously social media deficient life you ask? Well, I really believe it all depends on who you are! I am definitely a social butterfly but I prefer to text, talk on the phone or go out with my friends.There's something that makes me feel very uneasy about having your entire life available for others to view at the click of a mouse.
I read an interesting article today about Canadians and social media and the internet. We are nearly DOUBLE the world wide usage. To be honest, I am a little surprised! I thought the U.S. would have had us beaten in that department. I've thought about why it is that we spend so much time in front of a digital screen. The first thing I thought is that Canada is a pretty quiet place when you think about the dramatics and the wars going on in other countries. We as Canadians want to stay up to date with everything in the world. We want news and we want it now! By we I mean a good chunk of Canadians. I definitely fall under the average because I find that 90% of news is bad news. The top stories don't interest me, they actually just make me feel terrible! So I stick with my music on YouTube and am perfectly happy.
In this article, they also mentioned the growing demographic are people over the age of 55! This kind of made ME feel old because they're spending more time on social media then I ever cared to invest. But a video related to this article made me starts to see it from a different perspective. It was just more convenient for them to look for things, recipes, reading the newspaper, staying in touch with family and even having your groceries delivered right to your door. This is great for people over the age of 55 but I wonder is this why the internet and social media have exploded so much in Canada? Is it just more convenient to "see" friends online instead of going to visit? Has the discovery of social media made us lazy? Some could argue that when you have family half way across the world, this allows for you to stay connected. Some could argue that their lives are just too busy to visit everyone they would like, or even pick up the phone to have a conversation. Yet we as Canadians are spending all this time on Facebook and Twitter.
Something to think about!Until we meet again...
