Is it weird to not have a social media presence

[quintessentone]

I think many people don't just plop their life and opinions online the way we would when gathered with people in person.  

In fact, when looked at from the starkly mocking position of "dots on a screen" one can be almost certain that among the folks you come across are people "pretending" to be the way they 'could' be except real life won't let them be that way...

But this is I think largely because we people never had such a 'social' environment to explore before this...
"virtual" interaction was never before possible.

But we also have an imperative to "be" with, among, or simply along side other people...

Presumably the same reserve you hold onto has to do with not embarrassment, but honor.

My late wife always seemed resistant to my 'expressive' ways online.  But she knows that I am, if nothing else, careful, just not enough for her. 

I rarely offer up information that people can abuse... even if they think they can... (kinda fun, sometimes.)

Long ago, I learned that people who live in 'reserved image' mode often damage their own freedoms by 'reserving' the things that make them precisely who they are.

There will always be an element of trust in speaking to one another, it is an unavoidable...
Everyone is sharing the risk... such as it can be in a virtual world.

I speak freely, because I find the risk a matter of perception only.  Thus, it is strictly "imagined."

We are an imaginative lot.

I will miss that very much...

The wherein and how of it's perpetuity are beyond my imaginings...

But I will always have a little faith...
... it's a side effect.

Well I have to say that in person you can expect my opinionated self just as I am here, but it depends on the location.

At work, opinions can be quickly challenged and/or explained in more detail along with facial expressions and intentions - digitally not so much. At work, catch me in the lunchroom and the discussions continue or are used as a path into other topics and so it goes. Catch me in the hallway, passing by, and you will get a quick quip/comment or greeting.

People tend to be attracted to me in person, even strangers much to my dismay because I'm not sure why they choose me to connect with in either a positive or negative way.

Like the other day at a big box store, an older woman my age, came up to me while I was looking at small doorway rugs and asked me where will I be using the rug. I told her in front of the sink...she may have had dementia because she kept repeating the word 'sink' and I too repeated it until she seemed to me to have understood. This happens to me all the time with people picking me for whatever reason. 

In that case she was curious enough to ask me about the potential rug use.

I don't need frivolous social media posting, strangers are asking me in real life to tell them about what I am doing. lol

[Maxmars]

Well I have to say that in person you can expect my opinionated self just as I am here, but it depends on the location.

...

I don't need frivolous social media posting, strangers are asking me in real life to tell them about what I am doing. lol

I hope you accept this in a more or less playful context...

I take it then, you don't repeatedly post "what I had for lunch" pics on Faceboo?

It's, for many, very important to cherish one's certainty...
especially when confronted by another which disagrees...

The how and why are mysteries to each person seeing that light, in that 'place'...

Certainty however... is personal.

PS - Beware it becomes your faux identity... folks...
then certainty becomes that harsh critic who is angrily distrustful of those it can't define... 

Fair intentions and good will actually appear to exist as a real presence in our environment...
Certainty often chases that away... unless it sings the same song... maybe that's just a "human" thing, or just in my head...

Sorry about the whole "certainty" topicality... it ended up more like me talking to myself  

Walk in beauty kiddo.

[quintessentone]

I hope you accept this in a more or less playful context...

I take it then, you don't repeatedly post "what I had for lunch" pics on Faceboo?

It's, for many, very important to cherish one's certainty...
especially when confronted by another which disagrees...

The how and why are mysteries to each person seeing that light, in that 'place'...

Certainty however... is personal.

PS - Beware it becomes your faux identity... folks...
then certainty becomes that harsh critic who is angrily distrustful of those it can't define... 

Fair intentions and good will actually appear to exist as a real presence in our environment...
Certainty often chases that away... unless it sings the same song... maybe that's just a "human" thing, or just in my head...

Sorry about the whole "certainty" topicality... it ended up more like me talking to myself  

Walk in beauty kiddo.

When I worked, I didn't need to post what I had for lunch on social media because everyone at work saw what I was eating and commented accordingly. 

One comment was "That smells like real food."

[Maxmars]

When I worked, I didn't need to post what I had for lunch on social media because everyone at work saw what I was eating and commented accordingly. 

One comment was "That smells like real food."

I always caution against schadenfreude, ya know... it's mean...

But heating up leftovers in the lunchroom always made me feel better about having them...
judging from the reaction of everyone who smelled the steam...

Yeah, maybe a little mean to think it funny.

In the virtual world - where do we see an equivalent? No where.

[quintessentone]

I am laughing at the comparison of comments in the real world vs. the online social world and normally don't make assumptions with strangers or their comments in real life because I don't know them or their situation.

[Maxmars]

I am laughing at the comparison of comments in the real world vs. the online social world and normally don't make assumptions with strangers or their comments in real life because I don't know them or their situation.

There's really little point to speaking an assumption, except to give credence to a bias or an agenda, personal or otherwise.

[quintessentone]

There's really little point to speaking an assumption, except to give credence to a bias or an agenda, personal or otherwise.

Well I would not say giving it credence, rather guessing those reasons may play a part, then maybe not. Without any knowledge or facts it's a fool's errand trying to figure out what a stranger really means from their one comment and not asking for clarification/explanation. Which I don't when it comes to strangers I meet out there in the real world. I will now just nod and smile at them which should do the trick.

[putnam6]

You really have to wonder at the people who use social media ,Especially with the stuff they post online , when they are going on holiday and where     so that they can get burgled , robbed and what ever and everything else on their tiny minds ,Years later a potential employer can check them out and AI knows them better than they do .

Not for me I prefer the international man of mystery tag

At one time, we were supposed to post on all of them, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc

and would get reprimanded if you didnt...

We had decent sites for years, and companies had social media managers and coordinators even before COVID, it was waning, dedicated social media departments mostly disappeared after COVID

[Hypntick]

At one time, we were supposed to post on all of them, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc

and would get reprimanded if you didnt...

We had decent sites for years, and companies had social media managers and coordinators even before COVID, it was waning, dedicated social media departments mostly disappeared after COVID

I have worked at a few places where it was strongly encouraged to post the company message to your own social media. Nowhere have I ever worked; penalized you for not doing it. Then again, maybe that's because I don't have a social media presence, so I didn't fall within the radar?

[quintessentone]

I have worked at a few places where it was strongly encouraged to post the company message to your own social media. Nowhere have I ever worked; penalized you for not doing it. Then again, maybe that's because I don't have a social media presence, so I didn't fall within the radar?

Isn't it a reasonable presumption that an employer would seek the attention seekers to promote their business?