I'd love to hear more. The industry folks I've talked to have all made it clear that platform building is necessary to interest a publisher.
I use Social media to promote my band's music. I do have a personal one for friends and relatives, and a public one for professional use.
I wasn't saying everybody who drinks becomes an alcoholic, or that everybody who uses social media experiences problems. I highly doubt people wake up and decide to be an alcoholic. I'm equally dubious that an individual who has been born and raised in a world dominated by social media, really has much of a conscious say - or understanding - in terms of the *possible* negative effects that that can have, whether it be in behavior, mentality, etc. You're a product of your environment, and a child in possibly their most important and impressionable developmental years, does not possess the same amount of knowledge, hindsight, and awareness that an adult does. Maybe I'm just being semantic. I do agree that a person who recognizes they have a problem, needs to admit responsibility, and make actual effort to resolve their situation. I only help people who I believe deserve my help; that is to say, either the situation was out of their control, or I can tell that they are trying to fix it. Otherwise, it doesn't do them any good for me to fix it for them. I believe we both might agree with that. At the end of the day though, the moderation is tailored to the individual. Some people are self-aware enough that they can stop doing something cold-turkey. Other people don't possess that level of awareness, or perhaps the level of discipline. That, of course, is not an excuse to shirk responsibility; they would just need to seek alternative avenues, such as AA meetings, or see a psychiatrist / therapist to address their underlying emotional problems that made them an addict in the first place. Additionally, most people wouldn't know how to address a deep rooted emotional problem, if they could even identify it to begin with, so you can't really say they have control over that. And as I said earlier, more studies and research ought to be done on both the positive and negative effects of social media. The better we can understand it, the more we can promote healthier use and exposure. I mean yeah, sure, car thieves bear the full responsibility of their crime pretty much regardless of the circumstances. But teaching the common citizen to not leave valuables laying about in plain view, or to not leave the car unlocked with the keys in the ignition in drug runner alley, are also effective counter-measures. Therefore, unless I'm misunderstanding you (and if so, I apologize), I don't see what the problem is with figuring out the potential problems that can arise from social media, so as to enlighten the general public. It's the same reason you don't teach drug abstinence in school, but rather drug safety.
I've been on Facebook quite a long time. I started back when it was a place to get in contact with old friends and keep in contact with new ones. For a long time, my Friends count was around 80. It has since risen to over 100 (I've not checked in a while.) I am very picky about who I admit to my Friends circle. I not only turn folks into Spam if they've approached me for no good reason (not somebody I know or have friends in common with) but also refuse people who are Friends of Friends, although I don't turn them into Spam. I just ignore the request, which, apparently, they can only put forward once. What is starting to bother me A LOT is the amount of crap that appears from sources I don't have as Friends. The algorithym seems to have figured out the stuff I like, and feeds me similar stuff. At first that doesn't bother me, but now it does. It's easily about a quarter of my newsfeed, which already feels clogged. While you can block these individual sites, you can't block all of them. Whatever one you block gets immediately replaced by something else. I'm going to go to my settings and see how much of this I can reduce. I'm now also getting email notifications every time somebody posts to something a Friend has posted. It's just becoming insane. And that's before tackling trolls and unpleasant behaviour. Yet, when it's just between real Friends, I love Facebook, and I've enjoyed seeing what genuine old friends are up to. It's also nice to be able to put out a message that reaches all Friends at once, such as alterting them to the times when our internet was down at home, or when something has happened that I want everybody to know about. So far I'm staying and participating, but I must admit there have been times when I've considered leaving. I am an old bird, and this is just another newfangled development I've encountered in my life. However, like @Foxxx , I do wonder what effect this is having on children who don't remember the days 'before.'
I love social media--even though I'm getting up there in age. I'd have a tough time getting by without Facebook. I just love the stuff.
