I know from the title of this blog it sounds quite vague and general, and I could possibly go on talking about these three things for ages. Specifically though what I want to talk about are how these sites have affected my everyday life and what I now think about each of them. Also, as it's come to my attention lately, I want to talk about how different these three sites are becoming from what they originally used to be like, in particular Facebook.
Like everyone else when Facebook first appeared, I signed up straight away, ditching Bebo, and any other sites that I was on, because it seemed to be way ahead of its time, and miles better then any of the other networking sites around during those days. Partly due to it being so amazing though, meant I went through the inevitable addicted phase, that I know everyone gone through, where you constantly check Facebook for no apparent reason every time you get home, or your near the computer or whilst your meant to be doing your homework, etc. Luckily as this was quite a few years ago now, it means this phase happened before I got my laptop and blackberry, so I could only check Facebook on our family desktop computer when no one else was using it.
Over the last few months, Facebook has introduced many new upgrades and feature changes, and it now seems you cant go anywhere on the internet without seeing a 'share' button or Facebook icon, trying to take you back to the site. I've also discovered that the purpose of some of these new upgrades, was to make it so you could do things on the internet, like listen to music, and read the news but still stay connected to Facebook. Why though? Do we need to be on Facebook every minute of everyday? Does everything we do and see have to be shown on Facebook? I do wonder why the creators of Facebook introduced these features so we'd stay linked to their site, it just now sound as though we need Facebook, and that by having these features they're doing a service, in giving us a way to able to continue getting our daily fix of the site.
Since the beginning of the year, I've slowly become less interested in Facebook. I definitely don't go on it as much as I used to. In fact the only real reason I go on it now is just to see what my friends have been doing, not to play games, or use their apps, or whatever number of things you can do on there now. I'm not saying that Facebook is a bad site, or that its trying to take over, because I don't think it is, I think that its an amazing site with revolutionary ideas, I'm just trying to understand why this everyday social networking site has become so....important and necessary.
Like always when I write about Facebook in these blogs, I'm left with more unanswered questions then I started with.
One main positive thing that has come out of becoming uninterested in Facebook, is that I now spend more time on Twitter and Tumblr. It's here I'd quickly like to say that this isn't a case of just trading one site for another, and that I still spending ages on social networking sites, because these sites aren't like MySpace and Bebo and Facebook, they're distinctively different.
Twitter has now become my new commenting site, where I share the occasional 'this is what I'm doing today' comment, and I follow a few friends, certain celebrities and other people like that. The reason I like Twitter more then Facebook is simple, you can comment, other people can comment, you post the occasional picture and that's it. Twitter has no gimmicks like Facebook's game section, or quizzes etc... it is what it is, and that's all I ask.You also, because twitter doesn't have any of those quizzes or group pages, don't get a feed full of spammed comments from things you've never heard of. Weirdly, another reason I like Twitter so much, is because there aren't as many people on it. I know the creators of Twitter won't like to hear that, but it makes it feel more unique, and you don't feel like your just going with the masses when you get an account and use it. That being said, it brings me nicely on to my next topic, Tumblr.
Similar to Twitter, a reason why I like it so much is because barely anyone I know has ever heard of it, let alone has an account for it. Tumblr is something special, there aren't really any rules to using it, although I have once or twice heard that there are rules, but your not meant to talk about them. Tumblr is the creative Hub of the internet, home to geeks, artists, book/quote lovers, and especially talented creators of GIF's. Now unless you've actually been on Tumblr and experienced it for yourself, you won't know what I'm on about. For example, its a place where fans of Doctor Who and Harry Potter regularly upload fan fiction, images of their favourite characters, and quotes they like from books or previous episodes.
There so much more to be found on there though, more then just these few examples. You never know what you'll find next.
With Tumblr its just really nice to see, what seems to be a small protected corner of the internet where people can be themselves, upload what they want, be creative, and not have the hassle of people trying to sell things and weird people uploading spam rubbish every hour. To me, Tumblr has become the picture/quote/music equivalent, to this site I'm using right now, Blogger. Whereas on Blogger you'd find diaries, blogs, sometimes long poems, Tumblr has the GIF's, short quotes, pictures and fan music. Both of these are creative sites that, most importantly to me, have the sense of being untouched by the outside world. Like they seem to have been missed by the normal majority of people and are there for the people who would use them properly and treat them fairly.
I've been using Blogger for less then a year so far, however I already feel as though I've now got my own piece of this community, that somewhere on a profile or a 'facts about me' section I can write 'blogger' and know that I actually am. These unique sites, to people, are more then that of what Facebook has become. Often you hear people saying everyone now wastes their time on the internet, checking their walls etc... but there are areas of the internet that are different, that have communities of people who affect one another, who produce awesome things.
What I'm trying to say really is, by being on Blogger, by seeing the people on Tumblr, even by using sites such as YouTube, you realise that people don't just waste time updating and liking status's, they also use these sites genuinely, and shouldn't be clumped in with the stereotype of the majority.
Talking about this does lead me on to think about the new laws and restrictions certain governments are trying to impose on the internet, however as it's getting late, I think I'll leave that for another day.
