Living on Social Media

Last night, while trying to fall asleep, my brain began churning out lists of things I need to do. Coupled with the day-to-day physical reality, I noticed there was a whole hell of a lot about writing blog posts and checking in on Facebook friends.

And it occurred to me, perhaps not for the first time but definitely more clearly, that I live a good part of my life on social media. That I have an online outlet for the various facets of my personality.

Facebook is how I keep up with people. Having grown up a military brat, I've left friends and connections all over the place (and I don't see that stopping anytime soon). I've also met people on Facebook who share similar likes and interests and they've become as close as any in-person friends.

During the last two years I spent working from home, in a new apartment in a new city, Facebook was one of the ways I could get my social interaction when I had neither the time, nor the energy, to build a new network of friends and acquaintances.

Blogger and Twitter cover the writer portion of my psyche. Here I share stories, thoughts on fiction and writing and, okay, whatever else comes to mind. (I'm trying to live up to the name of the blog, after all.)

Tumblr is for my fandom interests, the movies, books, and television shows that I watch and constantly quote from. It's my playground. It's where I go to relax, unwind, and get creatively dirty in other people's sandboxes, whether it's taking screenshots, making gifs, or writing fanfiction.

10-15 years ago, I never imagined my day-to-day life would encompass so much of an online presence.

It definitely has its cons. You can only spend so much time attached to a computer before you go stark raving and flee your apartment in search of face-to-face interaction. Also, there are only so many people you can keep up with while still finding the time to create and share your own material.

But it's also been a boon to my social interaction and my creativity. I have friends who are just a few clicks away. I have readily available writers groups and peer reviewers. And I have unlimited access to research materials, to inspirational things, to conduits through which I can share the variety of my creative self.


What about you? Do you find yourself splitting time between forms of social media? Do you only use one? Is it a bane or a boon?