what's the point of social media?

[DerpSandwich]

oldschoolfool said:

DerpSandwich said:
I'm in constant communication with all of my friends, despite sometimes not seeing some of them for weeks at a time. I'm in contact with old friends and family members that live so far away I would realistically never see or talk to them. I'm constantly in a discussion or collaborating on a project with my fellow filmmakers or keeping up on what my extended family is up to.

There are a lot of reasons social media is awesome. It can go too far, and it's all about how you use it, but saying that it has no point just because there's a lot of garbage on it is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Sometimes I become obsessive and spend too much time on Facebook, but as a tool it's invaluable.

Let me ask you a question. Why,can't you just use a phone for all of that? 

Because when you call someone, you're planning on having a direct, timed, end-to-end conversation with them, and only them.  I'm not going to think of everything I want to say when I call them.  But when I hop on Facebook, I can contribute to any number of conversations with any number of people involved, and all of us can comment and reply at our leasure.  Yes, it's possible to call any of the people I know, but I'm realistically not going to do it, especially when it comes to more distant family.  The casual environment of Facebook opens up communication where it wouldn't have been before.  It allows us to build on conversations and continue our collaboration over any amount of time, a little every day--not just while two of us happen to be talking on the phone.

I have a good time catching up with my old schoolmates on Facebook.  I would never give any of them a call.  Just being realistic.