[Thoughtstream] Social Networking Thoughts

[teradyneezeri]

Yes, I still use social networks, and I wish I did not need to. However, I would be effectively isolating myself from people I do enjoy talking with if I removed myself from them.

With that said, would that really be such a bad thing? With Twitter, there is a constant flow of information, and people assume you will catch all of it. More often than not, I find myself suffering from information overload because of the site, even with the few people I follow. This is because people use it to share so much that it becomes overwhelming without filters, and aside from all-or-nothing systems that barely work, Twiter does not provide such a feature.

Facebook, on the other hand, has filtering systems which use signals that you, as the user, provide to them. If you mute posts of a specific topic, it begins removing those posts from your view automatically. If you like a large number posts from another person concerning a topic, it will begin showing posts like those more often. You can also mute specific posts and discussions, rather than having to see everything from a person at all times.

With all of this said, I would personally rather use Facebok more than I would Twitter, but people within my circles do not like Facebook for one reason or another. Some due to business practices which they find undesireable, some due to misinformation spread through social networks*, some due to simple preference. Some have even left all social networks, or have switched to using only Google+.

I myself have considered leaving all social networks again, simply to aid in my ability to focus on tasks. I have taken the first step toward that goal and removed the Twitter applications from my phone.

However, keeping Facebook would give me an outlet that is not such a high-traffic network. My feed is highly tuned and curated, and posts that I make can be selectively released to specific groups, without requiring much effort.

It is just a thought at this point, though.

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* - Sadly, people have a habit of spreading news stories from various news sources, especially blogs, without actively researching that which they are telling others about. Far too often, they become pawns in a war between corporations which use news websites to spread lies.