Why People May Begin To Avoid Bloggers Like They Do Their Weird Uncle Fred
Conversation between my friend and I
Friend: So...I like this girl (sends me photo of girl)
Me: Really?!!! Cool. I know her! She's a blogger too.
Me: Slide into her dm, quickly!
Friend: Right, so she can take a screen-shot of my "sliding in" and blog about it.
Me: *laughing hysterically* How can you even say that? We have some filter! We don't blog about everything!
Friend: Yes, you do. You guys blog about everything!
Me: *pensive* You are right. We do. A little. I'm so blogging about this conversation.
Friend: *laughs* You see...
I know *covering my face*. I didn't want to blog about it, because I'd be validating his very specious, yet very true opinion about bloggers. Still, our conversation relayed to me an important message: People may actually start to avoid bloggers because we keep open diaries accessible by the World Wide Web.
This conversation had me pondering (and stuff happens when I ponder, just letting you know). So the questions began to come; are people more careful around me now because I'm a blogger? Am I suddenly this predatory creature who stalks innocent by-standers and friends for blog posts? Would I eventually be avoided by my friends at events and end up sitting next to their weird Uncle Fred at the reserved people-I-really-want-to-avoid guest table? Should I write about everything I see, hear, feel, taste? Is everything I experience "bloggable"? Where do I draw the line with my blog material and even on social media shareables in general?
Social media was created as a platform to share our opinions and experiences, while simultaneously benefiting from the opinions and experiences of others. Fact: it's completely up to us what we choose to share. However, I just discovered this new thing I call the Social Media Sharing Discernment Filter (SMSDF) or simply, The Discernment Filter (DF), which basically is an awareness of knowing our motives for sharing and having a clear understanding of what to share and what to keep.
You know those times when you are ready to post something, but you take another look at it and delete; or those times when you just want to hide under the covers with a photo or experience you recorded and you just stare and grin at it, and of course, you know the others that you just have to share with the world because you know it'll help or make someone smile. That's you exercising DF, right there, so it's not particularly novel.
It boils down to this: why do we share experiences and publish anyway? What's the motive? Whatever it is, whether it's to share our privileges and experiences with the world, or to encourage others or make them smile or to make sport of a guy in love. It's important that our motives are in line with our values and we are sensitive to the feelings of other people, as well as sensitive to the apparent beauty of privacy(post for another day).
Right, so more questions: Should we publish everything we consider shareable? Probably not, but that's completely up to the user. Should my blogger-friend make a screen-shot of her slide-in? Maybe. Maybe not. Some slide-ins though. Epic. LOL! I should share, but I'm exercising D.F. Hehe. Should my friend slide in, regardless? Yes! Don't let social media screen-shots and memes frighten you into not taking a chance. Take that chance!
If all goes well, and my friend slides in and D.F is employed, I just might be attending a wedding soon. If screen-shots are taken, however and D.F takes the backseat, well, that would be one more blogger ushering us to sit next to weird Uncle Fred at the people-we-really-want-to-avoid guest table. It's a cold, cold, dark place.
What are your thoughts? I'd really love to know. Are there times you keep some memories to and for yourself? Are you an avid sharer and think a filter is unecessary?
P.s: Special Thanks to my friend who permitted me to use our conversation in this post!
