The Unproverbial Platform

Try to imagine a world as we know it now, if there was no social media. For us born before the 2000's its not difficult. We did ok without it. Actually, life did great not having it. We had no idea what went on outside of our every day lives. We knew there was crime and evil somewhere because we read about it in the local newspaper. We watched the 11 o:clock news. Perhaps we had relatives or friends that lived in other states or even countries and informed us of what was happening in their neck of the woods. Little did we know or even have the smallest inkling of what was out there . Out there meaning outside of our little safety bubble. It seemed life was simple. Innocent. Growing but yet traditional. We knew exactly what was on our plate and what was in the food we were about to eat . Having a picnic in the park, playing baseball in the street or going to a football game was the best fun ever. Birthday parties and school dances were fun and safe . Hunting was the reason to own a gun. When a girl said no , it was honored. Simplicity and wholesomeness at it's best. Or so we thought.

Then the 2000's introduced us to MySpace, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Suddenly we could share on the internet via these social platforms with friends and family every day happenings that was going on in our lives and vise versa . Anyone that we allowed into our platform page was able to peek into our private relationships that no longer were so private and see the drama unfold ,word by word and not be accused of snooping because they were invited in when we requested and they accepted. They were bunched into the growing friends list and became more of a number than a member. We could also show off how perfect our life was from the front door out. A pregnancy or divorce announcement was anticipated frequently. A broken heart on display crushed us. Relationship status being updated, sometimes several times in a year was comical to the point you lost track. Romantic relationships were made and marriages ended because of social media. The ability to private message was often used as a dating tool .The list is huge so I won't continue it . We all already know anyway. I don't mean to sound negative in anyway, shape or form . I have enjoyed being on social media myself. Very thankful for it. I can see and talk to family that aren't close by , keep in touch as often as we like and watch young family members grow up. On the downside, you could come across a video that you can't unsee that was posted on these things called newfeed or see a live stream happening right in the screen in front of you. For me, that is the worst. It's so unsuspecting. Because of that, I avoid going on any platform at night, the last thing I want to see before I sleep is something that rattles my nerves and I can't erase from my mind enough to get into sleep mode. But that's the risk we take once we click the mouse or tap into our phones . I often think how fortunate my parents and other elders didn't have social media in their time. My mom could of easily become physically and violently ill if she was on a platform and came across a posts that was brutal to watch. I don't want to describe brutal. If you have social media, I'm certain you know what can be known as brutal . Someone could of post a picture of my Dad buying some blonde bombshell a drink at the local bar. Hence, having my Mom see it and leaving my Dad for having proof of him being a womanizer.

Yes, I'm very glad it wasn't available back then. That old saying "What you don't know won't kill you". Yes, that one saying carries alot of weight. I wonder if, when these platforms were being created, if the makers knew what good or bad could come from it . Or did it just fall into the wrong hands ? Which it was supposed to do , fall into all our hands. For leisurely pleasure . For networking. For pure entertainment. It wasn't supposed to be used to wreak havoc, ruin people , cost them to lose jobs,

cause mayhem, divide people and so on. Except somehow, it did. For some it was and has been used to deliberately seek reactions from innocent bystanders. Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. These are and have been the sign of the times because people, places and times weren't meant to stay the same. Take telephones for instance. Landlines are pretty much extinct. No one gets surprised or has to wonder who is on the other side of a phone call. Vehicles have cameras for eyes in the back. They are computerized. Run on battery instead of gasoline. And they can even drive themselves at times. You can turn appliances off or on when you're not home. What I have described above was the brainchild of a genius. More than one genius. I'm sure there are plenty more geniuses finalizing their next invention and preparing to introduce it to the world. I can't even entertain the thought of what could better for our lives or make it easier in the mear or far future. I can imagine though that decades from now ,if not us, but the generations that follow, could be wondering how they got along with out the next great thing . For us it is social media. In all honesty, I like it. I thrive on it . I am guilty of that. It has changed life for the better or maybe the worst depending who you ask.Everything always changes. It's called evolution. Social media has been here and here it will stay. We can live without it , but we really don't want to. Or do we ? Can we ?

End.