ob·ses·sion: an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person's mind
Have you ever had a song stuck in your head? You know something which starts out as a catchy tune; you like it, you enjoy the strings or the bass line; it keeps running over and over and over through your mind; at first it's no big deal, you can ignore it if you concentrate really, really hard; then something changes and you can no longer shut it out of your thoughts, you can no longer ignore it; it begins to drive you mad.
That is how my descent into the rabbit hole of social media began.
I have a Facebook page, have had one since 2008 or 2009. I started it to keep in touch with family who moved away, to see their faces and be a part of their lives even though they were no longer near by. I've never been one to talk much on the phone, even as a teenaged girl, when you're supposed to have a phone surgically grafted to your ear. That just isn't me. When I got my first cell phone, a blue and silver Nokia, I discovered texting! Yeah I had to press the 3 once and then twice and the 2 twice and the 4 three times to spell my partner's name ( in case you're keeping track, it'd be 33322444 just to type her name, which I could do without looking) but hey I didn't have to actually TALK on it.
Facebook was quite entertaining when I began my page. The games were fun, other people's posts were humorous, the pictures were.....entertaining to say the least. It was exciting to reconnect with people I hadn't talked to in years, since high school or college; seeing what they were doing or what was on their minds and then......well it wasn't anymore. I lost interest in posting my own thoughts, lost interest in playing the games and became more of a Facebook........observer. I looked at my page once a week to see what everyone was doing, then it became once a month and then it became once a quarter. My partner kind of took over my Facebook, she was really into the Farming game for a long time, she was, I might say obsessed. There was a running joke amongst our friends over who was liking stuff and making comments on friends posts. Hint: it typically wasn't me.
Then it was my birthday and pretty much all of my Facebook friends sent me birthday wishes and I was touched. At the time I was a stressed out mess, I was in my second to last semester before graduating Penn State, I ran out of financial aid to pay for my last semester (I found funding, luckily Penn State has a great network of generous Alumni), I was working full time in a pressure filled job (one I still have) and I was not in a very, let's say "happy" place. It was quite touching that these people took a second out of their day to wish me happy birthday since the last time I had posted anything new or interesting was more than 2 years before.....it set off a spark that ignited my current obsession. You see I like to be noticed, I don't have to be in the spotlight all the time, but I do like to, shall we say be noticed, I like to make an impression.
I had been noticed and it was glorious!
I started checking my page once a week, then every day, then it became anytime I had a free moment, checking on what was happening in my circle of friends. I wasn't posting anything new myself, I had nothing to say, actually I had a lot to say, but it wasn't material for a public forum such as Facebook. I am typically one who keeps her cards close to her chest, besides who wanted to hear about my troubles? Did I mention I was in a dark place for awhile, like for a year? No? Stick a pin in that, it's a story for another day.
Like, comment, like, repost, like, like, comment, repost; so went my Facebook ritual, until I graduated and posted a shot of my brand spanking new Pennsylvania State University diploma. I got 25 likes in an hour, I got comments with congratulations....I had been noticed....again. I hadn't posted anything new in months and suddenly, I was being paid attention to and I loved, loved, loved it! I had to find a way to continue this feeling, something in addition to Facebook, something........more.
I had heard about Twitter, I didn't understand how it worked, didn't understand the allure, but I signed up and created my profile, picked people, newspapers, magazines, museums and so on to follow and.......waited. I am a cautious person by nature, I like to observe and watch before I jump into anything. So I watched my Timeline, observed how it worked, saw what others were Tweeting and took a leap.......
As I mentioned in my Fangirling post, the first people I followed were @ZoiePalmer and @Anna_Silk, to feed my addiction to all things Lost Girl of course. My first ever tweet was to Zoie Palmer and she Favorited it, pretty much instantly. Not only was I noticed, but it happened in a split second. I didn't have to guess or wait, I knew for certain Zoie Palmer read my Tweet and most importantly, LIKED it. She thought it was funny or witty or maybe she has a quota to reach for Favorites everyday and I was just lucky enough to make the cut. It didn't matter, still doesn't, I was hooked...in a split second.
You see, when a Tweet shows up on your timeline, no matter who it comes from, it's like the Tweeter
is talking or 'tweeting' directly to you, sometimes they are, but
usually not so much: the secret is, it doesn't matter, the feeling you
get is the same. Remember the catchy tune running through your mind?
Next Week On.......we fall deeper into the rabbit hole...
Follow me on Twitter: @BolmerJ
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