Love it or hate it, there's no getting away from Facebook – the world's most popular social media site. The influence of this enormous social media creature can be seen in every corner of the Web. We keep in touch with the whole world. We share our lives, and more than a few of us are guilty of oversharing. We consume a never-ending stream of content on our News Feed – content from the people and companies that we've connected with on the platform.
We like, we hate, we laugh, we share, we love.
Have you ever thought about what would happen if we made Facebook a real thing? What if we applied some of Facebook's features in our everyday life?
What if we distributed our "likes" in person?
Facebook's major feature: the like-button. Bored, we scroll down over tons of articles and pictures, showing our approval by a quick click on the like button. Whether we truly like and appreciate the item in question, is another story. But that's how we like people and things in today's society. How about telling our friend in person how much we liked their article? How about complimenting someone face to face on their new hairstyle or their accomplishments? It could be the start of something new…
What if we shared our "love" with people?
The new addition to the like-button: The heart-button, the laughing face, the shocked face and the angry face. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. I have the impression, we don't have any problems showing our angry face in real life, too. But what about the heart-button? Somehow it's easier to send a virtual heart to someone than to share some love in person. Are we scared of being vulnerable? Would it show some kind of weakness?
What if we talked to people instead of stalking them?
I know people who check another person's facebook page before meeting them in person. It's also not really a secret how much people stalk each other on social media. I don't even want to know how many hours young people spend on facebook just trying to figure out someone else's likes, shares, interests, and lifestyle. Imagine, we would talk more to each other and actually listen more. We would really get to know each other instead of stalking each other.
What if we sorted things out in a fair way?
Cyber mobbing, assaulting, stalking - there are tons of ways to use social media with the aim to disturb and make another person suffer. The safety of the screen and the physical distance to the victim make it so much easier to cross the border of fairness and morality. Suddenly, it's easy to attack and humiliate another person.
Certainly, people don't always get along and it's normal that we fight and have disagreements. But what if we sorted those things out face to face, addressing the real problem in person. Trying to come to an agreement without involving the brutal forces and audience of social media is certainly a better way to clear the air.
Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat. Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr. There are countless apps and sites which let you enter the realm of social media. And I'm sure we all agree those sites have their big advantages and are important. They are called "social media." Sometimes, though, I'm not so sure if they really help us to be more social. So how about taking the likes and loves with us even if we shut down our computer and distributing them in person? Let's try together.
