13 May How We Witness Social Media Usage IRL
At any given moment in our daily lives, we’re confronted by social media usage. “Tweet this, like that, share our post” is all over communications from brands and beyond. And obviously, at Ignite Social Media, we usually focus on the business aspects of it all. But what about real-life usage? How are people actually consuming social media with their own friends, in their daily lives?
This handy old list has been explaining it all in the form of donuts for a few years now:
Notice the old Instagram border that no one uses anymore.
Social Media IRL Currently
Nowadays, there are more interactions than ever via social media. And plenty of people are happy to poke fun at it all. Granted, it is pretty funny when people walk into things because they can’t be bothered to lift their head up from their phones. On the other hand, it is not as funny to witness people with their heads down, in their cars, at every red light and you know they’re checking to see how many likes their last selfie received.
Weddings
We’re gathered here today to see how many shots it takes to get a decent, but still blurry, shot of the bride and groom. “Unplugged ceremonies” are now becoming popular, where the couple kindly requests that guests put their phones down during the ceremony and just share in that moment with them, not their entire social following. People will risk losing an actual moment for the sake of trying to capture it for social media, not to mention risk ruining the moment for others around them.
You see the guy shifting his entire body to see the bride coming down the aisle? Yeah, that’s the groom.
Concerts
Recently, Disturbed frontman David Draiman received some flack after berating a concert-goer who would not get off her phone. He stopped the show to call her out specifically and said “you’ve had your face in your f*cking phone the entire d*mn show. Are we that boring?” Ironically, Draiman’s rant was captured via cell phone and shared across social media, in attempts to shame the woman. Turns out the woman was a mother who happened to be checking on her daughter, who apparently had been caught in a bad hail storm. He’s since apologized but the damage has been done. Back in the early days of social media, like MySpace, it was really hard to get into shows with a phone. Now, artists understand that when fans share their experience with their social following that it may actually result in more ticket sales, not less. Looks like jokes on you, Disturbed man.
Although 100 blurry pictures in an album may seem redundant, if you have a good enough seat and a decent phone camera, I’d personally be very interested in seeing what kind of shots you can get from your show!
Sports Games
Who doesn’t like to show off when they’re at a sports event? The venue, the players, the atmosphere, the hot dogs – it’s all part of it and most people are dying to share it with the world. And teams are catching on. Snapchat geofilters, special hashtags, and social-only promotions are only increasing. But again, are we losing unique plays by playing with our filters? There’s a fine line between enhancing your experience with social media and becoming so obsessed with finding cell service that you forget there’s a game going on in front of you.
School, Universities, Work
At a place of learning, or a place of work, social media doesn’t always fit in that well. Most teachers and professors will have a problem with knowing their students are liking away during class when they should be paying attention. However, it’s hard to stop these kids. Recently, “Damn Daniel” and the “Running Man Challenge” blew up all over the internet, and both of those viral memes started in classrooms. Although they’re funny and highly successful, you can’t help but wonder what valuable lessons were lost on the days they were coming to fruition.
Workplace social media use can be tricky. At our office, we obviously embrace it to a certain extent. You can see full threads taking place during the workday and not a single beat will be missed. But that’s because we’re really good at social media-ing. Otherwise, you should just stick to checking your Facebook and Twitter on breaks and lunch hour.
Real Life Question: To Tweet or Not to Tweet
We are full proponents of social media usage. But we think everything comes at a price. While you shouldn’t deprive yourself from hash tagging it up online, there needs to be an understanding of how much is too much.
Keeping one eye on your feed at all times may actually impair your chances to live IRL. But capturing something for posterity can be amazing and wonderful to look at for years to come, not to mention sharing with those who couldn’t be with you at a specific moment in your life. So take everything with a grain of salt, including your breakfast that you just HAD to Snapchat.
