Social Media Overload

Well, today marked the end of the fuzzy period between the spring semester and May Session. It seemed like another lazy day for the most part, but since the day concluded with everyone coming back from the weekend away, it felt like more was going on. A few of my guys did spend part of today constructing a house riddled with traps and challenges in Minecraft, and I did enjoy simply watching them and sharing in the new ideas.

TC

It doesn't seem like I'm still not back into holiday mode just yet. Fortunately, there are so many holidays that I don't have to do anything too wild and crazy in order to celebrate something. For example, today is the beginning of Drinking Water Week. I am happy to say that I rarely drink soda and when I work the desk, I try to keep myself well-hydrated. Speaking of hydration, I hope I'm not watering Hazel too much. I do feel like it's been growing since Earth Day, but since I didn't take a picture, I can only try to tap into a memory. This might sound weird, but I water Hazel through the bottom and the top of the soil still feels moist. At least nothing has really fallen off.

TC

This doesn't feel like enough of a topic to write a post, but social media is weird. Now, the typical argument that follows is that social media is meant to bring people together when in fact it pushes people away from personal interactions and towards spending more time in front of a computer screen. While I don't disagree with this argument, my current thought is to the expansiveness of social media. I look at my current Internet tabs and find a number of social media outlets - Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter. Each one has a different feel and since every service is independent, I can connect with notably different people. Facebook is definitely the largest connection hub with friends, particularly high school, college, and previous Academy students. Google+ is tiny in comparison and is pretty focused on my college friends. LinkedIn has some of the same people, but also includes co-workers, bosses, and as a more random example, the math professor I took a summer class from at my hometown university. Twitter is again more focused on high school and college friends, but also is a source of vlogbrothers news and inspiration.

After writing that paragraph, I realize that my original thought seems invalid. In fact, I could name a handful of people that I'm connected with in all four of the media facets I listed (well, three of the four at least). My new thought is that there is so much social media that when you find some service, something else pops up with flashy lights and excellent posts from friends. The community were key factors for things like Flickr and Words With Friends. I don't have a Tumblr account, but there's a tab with a friend's account open so I can see what she posts from time to time. If I spent time on every website my friends were on, I would definitely suffer in the absence of sleep and adventures that roam outside my apartment.

So, what's the best plan of attack? Well, instead of searching for the next thing, I should appreciate the ways I can connect with friends currently and rekindle friendships that have gone by the wayside for too long. Even though it's no longer Letter Writing Month, I want to try again. I am thankful for patient friends; we'll just put it as that.

Even though this didn't feel like a full entry, I'm okay with a shorter post. Since May Session starts tomorrow, the ELMS projects start tomorrow and I want to be at both of my projects for at least part of the time.

Have a great start to the week and DFTBA.