So, judging by my extensive use of needle-pinching, sardonic adjectives, I guess that I've made it fairly clear that social networking - and the irritating references to these websites from highly respectable newspapers to everyday conversations, many of which have stirred up more trouble than a ghastly-flavoured beef broth - is not for myself, despite my oh-so-young age and typical stereotypes leaning towards teenagers spending and wasting their time slaving away on Facebook for an entire weekend. Honestly, am I going to be alienated because of the fact that, yet again (cue the predictable ding-dong of a bell), I choose to not follow the crowd and credit myself to staying true to my beliefs, regardless of the obvious yearnings of giving in to mood-lifting temptation? Hmm, perhaps I ought to stay off the originality-is-best subject for the time being, though the topic of how social networking websites are taking off so many people's lives is a necessity to be discussed urgently.
As I live in a popular tourist-attracting country situated in money-squeezing Europe where great fry-ups rule the roost and generally poor weather is a subject to avoid in a manic haste (seriously, have you even made an effort to guess yet?), I always get the impression that, behind the orange-streaked followers of chemical-addled fake tan and potentially fatal cans of caffeinated drinks, social network websites are one of the most important aspects of life here because I'm hardly able to escape these text-speak traps on Facebook or blurry pics of half-dressed celebrities posing on Instagram wherever I go, shoving me into a corner from which I am stuck and incapable of running away to a more pleasant refuge.
OK, I may have an account on Blogger which, as it is one of the many companies being snapped up from search engine giant Google, could be viewed as a social network, however I think that I've made my values and purposes fairly obvious to the eye - taking a reasonable chunk from my precious free time to tell of my opinions and live in hope of somebody other than a domain website checking my blog out is, as I believe, quite a stark difference to writing a comma-less sentence in the heat of a regrettable moment on Twitter at three in the morning, so that unmissable fact doesn't deserve to be ignored or waved off as though it doesn't hold any purpose.
Besides, I just want to declare that my mouth stretches into a cat-like yawn before anybody mutters the gut-wrenching words 'Facebook', 'Twitter' and the countless other sites which are increasing in popularity all the time - yes, a smartphone-loving and blog-writing teenager has grown tired of reading about almost everybody she knows on the internet, many of whom seem to give the relentless impression of following the so-called crowd and being unable to forge a path staying true to their originality. Is half the world turning into mindless, tweeting robots who cannot feel a tinge of emotion unless those feelings are associated with their Twitter account? If these problems - and yes, there is an actual problem if workers, in a day and age of hard-hitting recession where every penny has to be squeezed, are losing their 'valued' jobs for offending co-workers by posting a nasty comment on Facebook as a hollow laugh - carry on at such a spectacular rate, I'm doubting whether any of the damage which has already been made can stand even a possibility of being repaired.
Yet, as doubtless others have managed to notice, people whom many would regard as standing in a prestigious position in either politics, media or any other industries don't appear to be setting such a great example from which the public, particularly the younger generations who have a higher tendency to be led astray into what I would prefer not to mention, can commend and appreciate. Perhaps the criticism from newsreaders and well-known public figures seeped into my mind more greatly than a new Lady Gaga song, but it was impossible to not join in with the disgust which followed shortly after the Prime Minister David Cameron posed for a 'selfie' (which, by the way, is the Oxford Dictionary's current Word of the Year) along with Barack Obama and the president of Denmark at Nelson Mandela's memorial several days ago. Who ever suggested that the leader of a highly influential country - and the same also applied to the other presidents - had the right to pose for a picture at the memorial of one of the greatest people to have walked upon this planet? Alongside the struggling economy and worrying surge in sales of weight-gaining Gregg pasties, we have no hope at all if a person with so much power can give in to such a selfish impulsion and promote messages which ought to be discouraged: surely there is a hint of common sense in what I strongly believe?
Although there have been a couple of moments in the past when thoughtless wishes of letting impulsion get the better of me have seemed all too irresistible to restrain myself from, luckily I've been able to reach the other side of the tunnel and allow self-pride radiate across my face - by turning my head away from which a lot of people couldn't bear to miss out, it has developed my strength as a person and displayed skills which I never knew lived inside myself to shine brighter than a twinkling star in the midnight blue sky. Sure, the matter may have been related to setting up an account on Facebook, which definitely doesn't hold such a high importance as hiding away a secret stash of Revels does (at least in my chocolate-addicted world), but it doesn't alter or diminish the surge of self-respect rise as heavily as a powerful wave in the saltier-than-soy-sauce sea; if I can remain immune to the brainwashing powers commonly associated with popular social networking websites and give up chocolate for a second year in a row for Lent, which other levels in society and success can I reach? Plus, posing à la a buxom-lipped model and uploading the otherwise face-reddening picture for the whole internet to look at doesn't necessarily guarantee a legion of admirers turning up on your doorstep - by trying to impersonate a commonly-called 'pretty' celebrity, which sort of benefits is that picture going to offer you? In other words, it's a displayal of egoism and an opportunity to show your true, often unwelcome colours, which makes my feet run faster than a spotted cheetah in the savannah than a tie-dye shirt losing its messy cool in a washing machine. So, if you wish to remain firmly in my good books, do not share a picture of yourself scowling into your five megapixel camera with the entire world; nobody likes to catch the ghastly sight of a teenager looking and probably behaving like a drama queen, OK?
Had the services stayed true to their original purposes, perhaps I would've created an account and counted myself as a fellow tweeter or Facebooker (if that word happens to exist) by now because the actual concept of keeping in touch with your family and friends through the internet sounds pretty fun. Yet, like so many things, the initial message is quickly lost through foul-mouthed rants, jaw-dropping pictures and heated discussions which would make your skin crawl with either heart-gripping fear or eyebrow-raising disgust. A while ago, I eventually concluded that I don't wish to be part of a society who tags along with the same boring crowd, therefore risking a farewell to a better and more welcome nature. Of course, I'm not making a suggestion that everybody loses sight of their wiser senses whilst using social networking sites because there are plenty of admirable people who log onto Facebook, Twitter, etc for the correct purposes, but the problem surrounding the abuse going on and horrifying messages being promoted has to be dealt with as swiftly and quickly as possible. Yet who will? It has been a re-occurring situation since the very first social networking sites of their kind were created around a decade ago, including Myspace and Bebo, both of which still have a plentiful amount of users. The future, in certain ways, looks brighter than a dreaded neon pink manicure, but I can't help but wonder what lies ahead in relation to social networking as we know it - are more sticky dilemmas and loss of originality ahead of us?
Although there have been a couple of moments in the past when thoughtless wishes of letting impulsion get the better of me have seemed all too irresistible to restrain myself from, luckily I've been able to reach the other side of the tunnel and allow self-pride radiate across my face - by turning my head away from which a lot of people couldn't bear to miss out, it has developed my strength as a person and displayed skills which I never knew lived inside myself to shine brighter than a twinkling star in the midnight blue sky. Sure, the matter may have been related to setting up an account on Facebook, which definitely doesn't hold such a high importance as hiding away a secret stash of Revels does (at least in my chocolate-addicted world), but it doesn't alter or diminish the surge of self-respect rise as heavily as a powerful wave in the saltier-than-soy-sauce sea; if I can remain immune to the brainwashing powers commonly associated with popular social networking websites and give up chocolate for a second year in a row for Lent, which other levels in society and success can I reach? Plus, posing à la a buxom-lipped model and uploading the otherwise face-reddening picture for the whole internet to look at doesn't necessarily guarantee a legion of admirers turning up on your doorstep - by trying to impersonate a commonly-called 'pretty' celebrity, which sort of benefits is that picture going to offer you? In other words, it's a displayal of egoism and an opportunity to show your true, often unwelcome colours, which makes my feet run faster than a spotted cheetah in the savannah than a tie-dye shirt losing its messy cool in a washing machine. So, if you wish to remain firmly in my good books, do not share a picture of yourself scowling into your five megapixel camera with the entire world; nobody likes to catch the ghastly sight of a teenager looking and probably behaving like a drama queen, OK?
Had the services stayed true to their original purposes, perhaps I would've created an account and counted myself as a fellow tweeter or Facebooker (if that word happens to exist) by now because the actual concept of keeping in touch with your family and friends through the internet sounds pretty fun. Yet, like so many things, the initial message is quickly lost through foul-mouthed rants, jaw-dropping pictures and heated discussions which would make your skin crawl with either heart-gripping fear or eyebrow-raising disgust. A while ago, I eventually concluded that I don't wish to be part of a society who tags along with the same boring crowd, therefore risking a farewell to a better and more welcome nature. Of course, I'm not making a suggestion that everybody loses sight of their wiser senses whilst using social networking sites because there are plenty of admirable people who log onto Facebook, Twitter, etc for the correct purposes, but the problem surrounding the abuse going on and horrifying messages being promoted has to be dealt with as swiftly and quickly as possible. Yet who will? It has been a re-occurring situation since the very first social networking sites of their kind were created around a decade ago, including Myspace and Bebo, both of which still have a plentiful amount of users. The future, in certain ways, looks brighter than a dreaded neon pink manicure, but I can't help but wonder what lies ahead in relation to social networking as we know it - are more sticky dilemmas and loss of originality ahead of us?
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