My friend Sarah’s home burned down last month. She is a social worker and didn’t have renter’s insurance. Her friends immediately started organizing on her behalf. My sister sent around a Facebook to invite for raising funds to help pay the cost.
So far, her friends have raised $2,400.
Of course, I missed all of this. “Isn’t anyone doing anything for Sarah?” I asked my sister. I could hear her sigh over the phone.
“When is this social media diet over?” she asked.
Last August, I took a break from social media, hoping to discover what I’ve gained—and lost—over the past ten years. I took an extreme approach by stopping all social communication services including messaging. Here’s what I learned from my month’s media diet:
Social media have exerted wide influence on social life and its absence proves its powerful function. Sarah’s disaster is an example of the way in which social networking tools allow people to organize quickly and effectively. They brought Sarah much more than money—friends came together to offer daily needs, dog care, and general support.
Most tasks are better with social tools. As more and more services like home-sharing sites and music-downloading sites let users obtain people’s social connections, I have come to rely on my friends’ decisions to make better judgments about everything from where to stay in traveling to what’s on my playlist in selecting music and movie programs.
So far, her friends have raised $2,400.
Of course, I missed all of this. “Isn’t anyone doing anything for Sarah?” I asked my sister. I could hear her sigh over the phone.
“When is this social media diet over?” she asked.
Last August, I took a break from social media, hoping to discover what I’ve gained—and lost—over the past ten years. I took an extreme approach by stopping all social communication services including messaging. Here’s what I learned from my month’s media diet:
Social media have exerted wide influence on social life and its absence proves its powerful function. Sarah’s disaster is an example of the way in which social networking tools allow people to organize quickly and effectively. They brought Sarah much more than money—friends came together to offer daily needs, dog care, and general support.
Most tasks are better with social tools. As more and more services like home-sharing sites and music-downloading sites let users obtain people’s social connections, I have come to rely on my friends’ decisions to make better judgments about everything from where to stay in traveling to what’s on my playlist in selecting music and movie programs.
