Social networking sites

I personally do not use any social media platforms for privacy concerns. I have not had a facebook account in 4 years, I have not had twitter in 3 years, and I have disabled my Instagram about a year ago, and I have no intention of using any of them in the near future.

Tonight, I have had the chance to check out facebook, twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr. I was surprised by how all 4 platforms have come along way with changes in aesthetics, usage, and features, it was a bit overwhelming, to be honest.

Upon logging into Facebook, I was surprised to see how users are officially using Facebook as the new craigslist, selling pre-owned items and products. I noticed that my friends were not as active as they used to be when I was using the platform, however, all parents and older family members were quite active. I also noticed that some of my friends only use Facebook for games that they play with other friends but nothing else is on their feed. I also noticed how the celebrities and brands I used to follow on Facebook are rarely active on the platform.

Upon Logging into Instagram, it felt as if  I was looking at a magazine. All the pictures and posts looked so perfect, even posts by my friends looked like perfect professional shots. I was also overwhelmed by the amount of advertising and recommendations on the platform via their explore page, it was as if they are forcing me to follow or watch certain things and people. I noticed how some of my old friends have thousands of followers and even one of them has over a million followers and a verified account. It felt as though I entered a new world. Unlike Facebook, Celebrities and brands were quite engaging on Instagram.

I then moved on to Twitter, where I had to create an account for our New Media course, and it was hard for me to navigate, things changed so much. I hadn't used Twitter in years, and it took me a while to get the hang of it. I was always a fan of their characters limit, which was 140 back when I used it, now it seems to have been increased. The limit on characters pushed people to become creative with their statuses and get straight to the point with their tweets. Twitter discussions are fun and the website is very engaging.

The only Social Networking site that I actually still have is Tumblr, I'm not an active Tumblr user, but I look at the feed when I'm bored. Tumblr is easy to use and navigate through, it's also not as stressful as Instagram. I follow a few pages for fun. Tumblr is mostly used by younger crowds, most parents wouldn't really know what Tumblr is or use it which makes it cool.

It was fun to check out all those sites and see how they have changed as well as observing how people's interactions and uses of such platforms have changed.