Social Media: The new age jerk off

Where are you, what are you doing, why are you doing it and when. Questions nobody asked but advertisers have you believing you want answered. Millions of prissy prancing users proclaiming the death of old media driven by the upsurge in users of the new. The ability to spread useless unrefined information across the globe in minutes not hours as per the means of the olden days. It is all its cracked up to be though? Is it really the center piece of a revolution pitting old media Vs new, the introduction of a new far more instant form of communication? Or is it just another market for the con men and add revenue “SEO experts” to feed upon?
@thegood

Lets focus on twitter as that appears to be where most of the attention is. For those who are not familiar brush up here:

twitter.com

Think of twitter exactly as it is. A microblogging service/RSS feed for your every whim. You are limited to 140 characters and theoretically you should use them wisely to inform and educate the world. Spread valuable opinion, insight and knowledge to those around and free it to the world. People can choose to follow you and they will then receive your “tweets” (messages) and can then choose even to pass them on to their followers should they feel that your sentiments are worthy of being forwarded on. This system is what allows move to travel so quickly over the network based on the theory that the more informative or entertaining the topic the quicker the spread. This however is rarely how it works in reality and as the site marches ever forward the shit is slowly floating to the surface ruining this once idyllic landscape.
@thebad

Think of every boring, mundane and mind numbingly unintelligent conversation you have ever had. The facts that you have never wanted to hear from people you never wanted to know. Now imagine that these people have an outlet that allows them to reach possibly thousands of other also mind numbingly stupid people to share in the drivel of their unexciting lives 140 characters at a time 30 times day with whatever happens to pop into their frilly little minds!

EmoKid: Just finished making my good charlotte sex doll!

JohnBoyL: Just took this mornings biggest dump, six pound 2 oz!

@theugly

Now to the grunt of my point. The thorn in the side of a true and functional “social media” network if you will. While some of the points above lead to the conclusion that social media can be a platform for the spread of quality information to users at a pace that is almost unheard of even in this age we must first take one crucial factor into account.

The system is controlled and utilized almost exclusively by people that have a vested interest in it succeeding. They need it to push you products you don’t want to buy, spam and bludgeon you with their bullshit all while feeding it to you as if they are you best mate. They hide behind their “fun” facts and “informative blogging” articles but the point is always the same and its to reach you after years of failing to do so through old media. New media is not new at all, its just a shifting of the market to target you in new ways while convincing you that you are in control.

“Social” media is not as large and influential as you would believe it to be, thats just exactly what they want you to think. They need you to believe that this is the next big resolution so they can continue to drive traffic to their useless posts and analytics all in the search of the almighty dollar and an ever increasing revenue from a generation that was fast leaving them behind.

They are building an advertising network which you are freely assisting them to construct because they are able to manipulate you into thinking it was your idea in the first place.
@theconclusion

I am a twitter user. An angry one but a user nonetheless. I can see a future for twitter that is quickly being buried in the obvious commercial takeover by the “bloggers”, “SEO Experts” and “analysts” for the twitter universe. Web 2.0 sprouts that spring endlessly from the ground like the weeds they are. They will clog and connect throughout the system stemming the growth of actually useful contributors and users who feel lost in a world of “Social Media Marketing” feeling that they have no ground or place.
x
Twitter has a chance to do something large here and change the way that we share information online. I firmly believe that with the right decisions they could be the google of the next generation but this will never be if it is to follow its current trends.

As always please remember I’m just a lone blogger, a nobody. This article is nothing but the uninformed and unintelligent ramblings of a man who likes the sound of his own voice. My opinions are all most likely incorrect and should be taken as nothing but the drivel they are.