My 2018 Approach to Social Media

I'm part of the so-called Xennial generation. I'm old enough to have grown up without the internet at my fingertips, yet young enough that most of my friends today rely heavily on their online and social presence in creating and maintaining friendships. I'm still being pressured to get one of those darn smartphones because apparently people don't talk on the phone anymore and if you don't receive texts you don't interact with them.  I can see merit in both sides and this year I found myself straddling the divide more than ever.

Social media is a funny thing. From the moment you sign up, you're encouraged to share. That's the whole point isn't it? But then the more you post, the more you're encouraged to post. If you don't share anything, the whole exchange makes you feel like a stalker, just watching others' lives without contributing your own and reciprocating. Then friends tell you about their favorite platform, a different one from where you've been sharing and connecting already. So you join. And then at the end of twenty-seventeen, you're suddenly overwhelmed by the number of accounts you have and cross posting, and where to share this, and when to share that. It's sort of ridiculous to think about, honestly.

Lunch on the beach with my book.

By the end of 2017, I had accounts on five different platforms including this blog. On January first, I said goodbye to my Tumblr and Strava accounts. I never really liked Strava because it takes stalker to an entirely new level by showing where I've actually been on a tidy interactive map. Tumblr was often a repeat of what I posted here and on Facebook. Both of those were easy to drop and I didn't look back. That left me with Facebook, Instagram, and this blog. With these three remaining places available to share, I tried not to be too repetitive with any of them.
 
At the first of the year, I also decided to spend less time mindlessly perusing these remaining accounts and carried my tablet along with a book. Once I consciously noticed I was just scrolling without engaging, I put the tablet down and picked up my book. So far this year, I have read twenty-six books. By comparison, I finished twenty-six in 2016 and thirty-three in 2017 respectively.

An unintended result was the neglect of this blog. My posts became less frequent. My interest in creating ebbed and flowed. Then I realized it had been two months since my last post. I considered writing one last goodbye post and closing up this blog forever.

However, I'm not ready to do that quite yet. The truth is, writing is a part of who I am. I truly enjoy writing and putting my thoughts into words. Proof of that is in nearly a decade of childhood journals I have tucked in a box in my garage or the fifteen years of blogs that I have archived here and elsewhere on the internet.

Posting may continue to be sporadic but I'd like to continue sharing my adventures in running and hiking with you. Thanks for sticking around. :)