Internet Blind Spot

I remember my freshman year in college when we would look classmates up on this new thing called The Facebook. It was so frustrating when we couldn't find people, because they just didn't have it yet.

Fast forward eight years to when I was in journalism school and I would look up and contact sources on Facebook, Google and even Twitter. I could use my cell phone to do interviews and post breaking news updates from any interview or press conference. Many news outlets ask for viewers to send them shots from breaking news locations to air on live television, post on their Facebook page or release to the world via Twitter.

I'm currently in the backlash stage of social media. As I've gotten older, I haven't wanted to share nearly as much and have started to feel as though Facebook and it's "check ins" are incredibly invasive and I just don't want everyone knowing where I am, what I'm doing, or sometimes, who I'm with.

I still enjoy Twitter, though with much less frequency than I ever used Facebook. I spend more time updating my blogs (shameless promotion: my house blog!) and caring less and less about what's out on the Internet and more about what's going on in my life day to day.

Do I love re-reading the LiveJournal I kept through college or old IM's I have from high school? Absolutely. Thanks to Facebook, when my computer crashed in 2010 I was able to rebuild the photo albums on my computer. I can say congrats to my most recently engaged friends and see pictures of my best friend's new baby, even though she lives in Syracuse.

On the whole, I love what social media and social networking has done for the world, and for me. Currently, I adore being in an Internet blind spot. Other than some random sites about me here and there, you can't find me on the biggest site in the world: Facebook.