The age of me, me, me

The past few years have spawned a new age in our society: The Age of ME. Social media is no longer a novelty, it is a way of life. Communication is everywhere, and we can tell the world as much as we're willing to share.

Here are MY thoughts on some of the top social media entities.

“The Me Book” - Facebook

Our way of telling the world every mundane detail of our lives. Or in my case (I admit), my child’s life.

Before Facebook, we had no idea our neighbor was headed to the mall. No clue that our coworker was struggling with an old softball knee injury. We were ignorant of the toilet habits of our friends' children. We may not have known our eternally-single college friend was hoping for some action on an upcoming hot date. Now we know everything, whether we want to or not.

Nearly 130 million Americans are on Facebook each month (Nielsen Online Oct10 unique audience). People who knew us when we were nine are coming out of the woodwork. We know facts about “friends” we haven’t actually spoken with in a couple decades. Heck, we all of a sudden have several hundred friends! I wonder how many of those friends would actually be there in a crisis? Hmm, I’m guessing the few who were there in the dark ages? You know, 2002. Two (gasp!) whole years before Facebook existed.

“Facebook Lite” - Twitter
The fast and easy way to share a laugh, complain, or gossip – in 140 characters or less.

We can tweet from our phones at the nail salon. We can tweet while at work (quickly, before the boss walks by). We can tweet about coupons, contests, news, and scandal. If a celebrity embarrasses himself at a club? Someone will tweet about it. A mega online bookstore sells a distasteful book? Someone will tweet about it and 5,000 people will stage a boycott (one that lasts about 3 days, until more interesting news hits). Anxiously awaiting the numbers for a $300+ million lottery? No need to wait 4 hours for the official website to post, just search Twitter! I can promise you, someone tweeted that info in a matter of minutes.


Maybe I should start calling it “Facebook Instant… where you can read some stuff you want to know, some that makes you laugh, and a whole bunch of crap you could care less about.” Oh, wait. That’s more than 140 characters.

“Me Without Boundaries” - Blogging
A narcissist’s dream.

Like to talk about yourself without limitations? Want to share endless details of your child’s life? Want to show the world how funny you are? Want to get some free stuff by pimping out space on your web page? Then blog! Between Blogger and Wordpress alone, there are 47 million+ unique U.S. bloggers out there (Nielsen Online Oct10 unique audience). Think they all have mad writing skills? Think they all have something interesting to say? Think again.

“Social media in a business suit” - LinkedIn
Honestly, I don’t really get LinkedIn.

I’ve seen very few people actually use LinkedIn intelligently. Those people use it like an industry-focused Facebook. They post articles, research, and tidbits of interest to their network. If I were a hiring manager, I might chalk up a few extra points for these folks. At least they’re keeping up with industry news. But mostly, I see people (myself included) connect on LinkedIn, then never use it again. Until, that is, they get laid off. Then they’re requesting recommendations left and right.

Maybe I’m missing something fabulous about LinkedIn? I’m okay with that. I’m a mostly-home mommy. I spend plenty of countless hours on Facebook. For now, poop and playtime are my world. When the time comes to commit to full-time work again? Well, then I’ll be sending you recommendation requests. Don’t forget to tell them about my brilliance, okay?


AT&T used to have a slogan, reach out and touch someone. Today, we can reach out and "poke", "like", and "tweet" someone. We can embarrass them with middle school photos and annoy them with requests for virtual farm equipment for pretend farms. I remember the first day we got a VCR... I can't imagine what Amelia will be using when she's my age.

I'm sure whatever it is, I will have absolutely no idea how to use it.

In this age of me, me, me, I want to thank you for choosing to read ME today! I would love YOUR thoughts in my comments.