Social media is a funny thing when you break it down and really dissect it.
I say that because in this hectic, rapidly-changing, everyone-behind-a-screen world we live in, is there really, truly anything about it that requires one to be "social"? From my own experiences, I'd say the answer is no.
Say you've got 357 friends on Facebook. By coincidence, that happens to be my number, although that can and just may change in the blink of an eye, or perhaps with the publication of this particular column. OK, so out of that 357, there's a large chunk of it that is comprised of family members and tried-and-true friends, although I consider those tried-and-true friends to be family (COUGH *Kyle, Chris, Alex* COUGH). As for the rest, it's really kind of a melting pot of humanity, and this is where "social" media between "friends" gets a little murky with me because I've come to realize that sites such as Facebook tend to present false images of friendship.
Or maybe what I perceive friendship to be.
There are people that I'm "friends" with on there who may not give me the time of day out in "real life", and that perplexes me. We can click "like" and comment on each other's posts and photos, but if we see each other at the grocery store or out on the street, it's radio silence. It's almost like there's this unspoken agreement to keep things between us "on the 'book", and I shouldn't dare try to initiate a human conversation out in public.
"Hey, so about that political thing you posted...."
"Whoa whoa whoa, can't you see I'm just trying to get my mail here? Tell me on Facebook!"
That's basically what it's become, even if a lot of people don't see it. Social media is designed to bring people together, but it actually seems to divide them more and more these days. And nothing spells divide more than when there's an election, or when politics gets involved at all, because we as a society enjoy the anonymity or the "protection" of being behind a screen and allowed to say whatever we want to someone because, hey, it's not like they're right in front of you.
Everyone is behind a screen, clicking and texting and liking and commenting, but actually *talking* to each other has become a lost art form.
Hell, I've got "friends" in real life who I haven't heard from in months, yet they might be some of the first people to hit "like" when I post something or say something funny.
Does it force a guy to reexamine his relationships with some people? You bet it does. Perhaps what's needed here is a purge of sorts; hitting delete on a number of people who either don't bother to contact me out in the real world, or they play that whole "Don't make eye contact, don't talk to me" game out in public.
But I'm also here to say that if you're one of the 357, or any functioning human being for that matter, I'm giving you the right to engage me in ANY sort of conversation if we see each other face-to-face. Whether it's the grocery store, the movie theater, some local event, it doesn't matter; you have carte blanche to spark up a conversation about anything and everything.
If you don't bother to do that, no worries. But consider our "friendship" headed toward the proverbial iceberg and ready to sink. And it's really your loss, because I'm actually pretty awesome if you bother to get to know me on a personal level instead of just behind a screen.
For this week, that's been the Ruttle Report.
