Over 50.2% of my day is spent on some social media platform; translation 724.35 minutes out of 1,440 minutes (24-hour day) of my time. While this is a rough estimate (where many activities were omitted), it is its own social media discussion. I wasn’t born to live by apps, I was transformed into this world. You would think my activities would make me a major part of the Conversation Prism but it appears that I am barely a mention.
According to the Conversation Prism 5.0., I only occupy the bits and pieces in the Social Network, Social Bookmark, Messengering and Service Network slices of the pie. What happened? While many of the slices are labeled with my social media of choices, they do not house the applications that are controlling my life. If we looked at every social platform I use to make my life easier, I would complete the social media circle with a footprint in every slice. However, my applications have not been incorporated. For example, gaming applications including the simplest and maybe oldest, Solitaire. It fits the “social media” definition as Solitaire offers you gratification as well as the opportunity to “connect” with others but its absent from the chart. This happens to be true for so many other games. Also, the financial applications like CashApp, Stockpile, Venmo and even PayPal give you more than a place to transfer money, you can also reach out to friends and family and in some cases grow your wealth through investment –community and group! Let us not forget the “foody” applications that will save your life on a busy day like Uber Eats and Doordash. Where do they fit in the social media map? I could go on and on by naming Elfster (Secret Santa), PhysiApp (personal physical therapy) or TikTok (video-sharing social network) but it all points to the same conclusion, I am not part of this social media conversation as of yet.
Conversation Prism 5.0 is an ongoing study of a visual social media landscape tracking dominant and promising social networks and organizes them by what they are used for in everyday life. It is about the people or (YOU) in the center of an online social media experience but where am I? If YOU, or in this case, “I” am having the experience, should not my social media platforms be somewhere in the mix? The Conversation Prism is an excellent ethnography, that, like most great works of art, must be updated to correlate with the constantly changing social media landscape.
What next? Let’s step back to my 50.2% of my day driven by social media. It’s time to heal thy self!!! I’ve thought of meditating on “Note to Self for Healthy Digital Consumption” a podcast by Manoush Zomorodi. He gives a challenge entitled the Five-Day Informagical Challenge where you are challenged with 1) no multi-tasking for the entire day 2) decluttering your applications (get rid of unused ones) 3) don’t try and keep up with everything for a day 4) seven-minute face-to-face rule (have a meaningful conversation with someone physically in front of you for seven minutes) and on the the fifth day analyze your week and see where and how you can incorporate what you have learned. I thought of doing something like that but…don’t think I would be successful right now.
How big is your social footprint and does it fit in the Conversation Prism 5.0?
Why fit in when you were born to
STAND OUT!”
Dr. Seuss
Charlotte’s Wisdom 