Elyse makes a confession

To me, the whole concept of social networking is a platypus. It’s a strange animal. It seems one way, mammal-like or relatable, but it lays eggs, rendering it confusing.

Maybe I view it this way because I initially approached the concept in a very cynical, Wall-E type of way where I felt like communicating online prevented people from being social in a non-virtual way. It seemed edited, calculated, and I sincerely felt like it was having an adverse effect and making people more awkward in actual social situations. In fact, some people I know who are super charming on Twitter and Facebook have a hard time looking you in the eye when engaging in emoticon-free conversation. Plus, there’s nothing more obnoxious than someone at a party or bar staring at their phone, using it as a social crutch or wall.

But then again, I’ve found myself doing this sometimes now as well, especially since I moved to New York where you’re crammed into pretty intimate social situations with utter strangers on a daily basis. Like the subway.

When I first moved here, I found the subway to be the loneliest place in the world. I didn’t know a soul and was constantly craving human interaction. And whenever I got on a train, I was rubbing butts with one stranger and within not just kissing, but Eskimo-kissing distance, of another, and everyone was so far away. Headphones in ears and eyes on phones. But then, after living here for a year, I found myself relieved to have ear buds snuffing out the sound of an intrusive and money-hungry mariachi band that randomly ambushed my car or having an excuse not to pay attention to the crazy eating ribs from a plastic Rite-Aid bag and spitting the bones onto the floor while ranting angrily about Daisy Fuentes (what did she do?!). Plus, all the reading you can get done on a subway commute is incredible! I read all three of the Hunger Games books the first few months I was here – a great feat for a teenager! I am 31!

And after years of using Facebook, I have to admittedly admit that it’s successfully kept me in touch with a dear friend from college who moved to Japan months after graduation and made me kinda, sorta like a mean girl from high school who I used to regard as a total ninny (first time using that word and I have to admittedly admit it felt nifty!) Also, I have some weird, very esoteric issues with social media due to the fact that I’m legally blind (remind me to tell you more about that later) and keeping up with tech trends and social standards is tiring for my pretty blue but kind of useless seeing-face balls.

 But today, on the day of the Boston Marathon explosions, I read this on Twitter, written by a pop culture commentator and blogger that I very much admire, Linda Holmes:

Linda Holmes ‏@nprmonkeysee: 
“Thanks, too, to everyone who didn't RT what they didn't know, didn't spread things, took a breath and encouraged others to do the same.”

Eek! I was totally one of those people who re-tweeted and re-posted the news right away. I did it on both the social mediums I oversee for work. Reading the news and seeing pictures of blood-stained streets genuinely disturbed and sadden me, but, then again, I’m under constant pressure to make a brand successful and feel obliged to try and get as much attention as possible, which, instinctively is so not me. And I need to learn when to post something and when to leave it up to the folks who report and accurately break the news in order to let the general public sufficiently digest. Then proceed with comment, if I genuinely feel like I have a unique perspective to bring to the table.

So I guess I’m apologizing for being a ninny.

And while we’re on the subject of confessions, I really hate talking about myself in third-person in my post titles or web heads or whatever. And this may change. But if I’ve learned anything as an editor, consistency is important to an audience. Even if the audience is currently non-existent.