Has Social Media enhanced your life or hindered your communications with others in person?

Probably each but it has been a wonderful support in adverse times and I have made many real friends as a result of social media (plural.) And I certainly talk to my real life friends plenty too.

I think the only thing it has hindered is my housework.

It has helped me for the most part. I’m on a farm and most days without a vehicle. I would feel very lonely without access to the internet.

It has enhanced my ability to communicate with friend and people I do business with. An example is my mom is not on Facebook but her sister is who live 1500 miles from me. I have not talked to her except at Funeral and then last year she friended me on face book and we “talk” everyday because it is so quick and convenient. Half the time I call my mom I have to leave a message and a day or so goes by before we get to talk.

I have met some really nice people and have learned a lot through social media and sites like this. My world has grown.

My ambition has shrunk, however.

I don’t use social media, dropped my FB acct. in 2011 after less than 2 years. I don’t have enough important people to stay in contact with online, all of them are accessible in my real life. I found FB mundane and tired of hearing all the self aggrandizement and peoples blow by blow accounts of their kitchen remodels and grand kids cute moments. Just not my thing.

I prefer to see and talk to my friends in real life and make the time to get together. Going down to have lunch with a good friend on Fri. that lives in my old are about an hour away. It’s just not that hard to pick up the phone, or actually get in your car and go see the people you care about. For the far away out of towners I call and email.

I never did get what all the fuss is about with FB and before that MySpace. Infact, I called FB “MyFace”. haha
Fluther, while not exactly social media is my only form of online time spent in interaction with all of you fun peeps, the rest of the time I am too damn busy with my own life to be a slave to constant social media checkins. I have friends that LIVE on FB from morning til night, always caught up in some drama or another.

Gah. Just not my thing at all.

I’ve reconnected with people I never thought I’d see again, and it’s great!

I don’t use it much but it has enhanced my life a lot. I have met people I would otherwise not have known existed .

Through social media FB I’ve found old friends that I’ve not seen in decades, and I’ve kept in touch with them in a way that emailing is not practical for. That’s been incredible – finding these people and seeing what they look like now and how their lives have turned out.

Through social media I’m in touch with a bunch of Jellies on FB, and that adds a new dimension to what I know about them here.

I also found that much of my communication with people now is thru social media, and not much on the phone as it used to be. It’s easier to p.m. people than it is to call them. My schedules, their schedules, etc. make phone calls seem so burdensome sometimes. A few sentences via p.m. or on their walls, or commenting on their posts and photos seems relatively effortless, yet shallow in a way.

Pretty much everything @jca says goes for me as well. It enhances my communications with people as ther are not restrictions because of job schedules or time zones. It is often easier to make plans to see people using social media, and if I don’t like something I just scroll on by.

No, on both cases.

I have found that in a lot of ways it has enhanced my life. I have met new people that I now consider friends, have reconnected with people that I lost contact of and get to see pictures of my niece’s and nephew’s children as they grow.
If one of my facebook friends gets too wordy on issues I’m not interested in, then I delete the friend or just turn off their feed.
Fluther has given me new insights into many issues that I had never thought of before. Living in a small town, most everyone has the same views and political ideas, so social networks gives me views and ideas I would never have if I had just lived my entire life in my little town.
I still talk to friends that live around me via phone or just meeting up.
One downside is that I do spend a lot of time on my computer that could be better spent doing other things.

Social media like Fluther is a godsend.

Actually, social media is neither good or bad. Such terms describe human choice. Social media is sort of something that fills in a void while you wait for something better. Sort of like a hamburger from Wendy’s.
It’ll do pinch, but I would rather go to decent restaurant with a good wine list.

Let’s say Fluther is a kind of social media.

It enhances my life. For years I was stuck in a set of rules that were considered: “The only things that are right”. I never dared to break them. When I discovered Fluther, my mind explored. I saw the rules broken in a dramatical way. I learned to be more open-minded and accept more opinions. It has affected my interaction in the real life a lot.

Through the social site I befriend with a lot of nice people. I learn a lot from them and I find myself talk more. I guess it affects my real world to, as I realize I also talk to real life people more and treat them like I treat people in the social site.

Wait a minute! Hold the phone! Reminder to everyone including myself. Fluther is not a social networking site! Remember this? http://www.fluther.com/173295/did-you-know-that-fluther-is-not-a-social-network-site/

My parents hinder me from communicating to people personally because I’m always not allowed to go out with my friends, so I could say social media enhanced my life a bit, but communicating through social media seems artificial. I still prefer communicating personally. It’s just that my parents don’t want me to go out. And it’s one of the reasons why it’s quite hard for me to face people personally.

@micchon Can you tell us why they don’t want you to go out? How old are you?

I have seen social media like Facebook ruin long time relationships between friends and relatives. I have observed from afar and decided long ago not to join these types of social internet outlets. I am on twitter and this site with complete anonymity. I want to be free to say what I want to say without the anger or resentment of people and family in the real world.

I know of siblings who no longer talk to each other, a cousin who lost her job, a friend who ended up getting divorced and friends who now hate each other. all because of facebook.

^ “Siblings who no longer talk to each other, a cousin who lost her job, a friend who ended up getting divorced and friends who now hate each other.”

All unheard of before social media, yes. ~

I say the fault is not FB itself, but what people put on FB which causes issues. If people would not air their dirty laundry or do spiteful things, there would not be a problem.

@jca yeah you are correct but the majority of people don’t treat Facebook that way. They broadcast too much of their business. I knew from day one that I didn’t want family members and friends knowing every move I make or even more boring having to look at endless photos.

I’m not anti social, I am just selective about who I tell things to and who I befriend. I never bore people with pictures. Just because I think my grandchildren are adorable doesn’t mean everyone does. :)

@janbb I’m 19 and turning 20 this May. I think they’re worried that something might happen to me. They always think that if I go home late, I might be raped, robbed… something like that. They think that I drink and do drugs, when in fact, my friends and I just eat and stay at the coffee shop. My parents are so paranoid that it’s already affecting not only my social life, but my whole life. I used to have social anxiety and panic attacks when reporting in class or facing a lot of people. I used to only talk to people through chatting and texting, no video calls or phone calls. Social media helped me too, but communicating face to face with your friends is a lot better. Recently, I’ve been breaking all the rules and curfews my father made, but I could say that my social life is getting better.

For now I would say neither, but generally speaking I would say I’ve spent more time communicating with others through social media while the real life gathering is less. But I’ve also realized it and limited the time I spent on it,