When I hear people swear off social media and vow never to join or be sucked into it, I literally cringe. I've heard every excuse from it's just so dumb to concerns about jeopardizing their privacy. I always have one question for them—do you use a credit card to purchase anything? If yes, I rest my case—it's already out there honey. People can ignore social media all they want but it doesn't look like it will be going away any time soon. Every time I run into someone like that, I can't help but remember my experience with my first cell phone.
I got my first cell phone in 1994. At the time, none of my immediate friends had cell phones or were even considering getting one. During those days, (at least among my circle of friends) a cell phone was definitely considered a luxury. I got the phone through a special offer program from my employer and being a single female at the time, I was sold on the fact that I would have immediate access to a phone in the case of an emergency. My biggest fear was having my car breakdown on the highway in the middle of nowhere, especially in the dead of winter or in a snow storm. Well luckily for me, none of those things happened but soon I was starting to think that I was throwing money away until the incident that made me a believer.
Someone referred me to a hair braider who lived on the outskirts of town—somewhere where I had not ventured on my own before. Anyway, I drove to the address without getting lost so I was feeling great until I noticed that the apartment building buzzer was broken and I couldn't call my hair braider to let me in. For a few minutes, I figured my only choice other than driving back home was to sit in my car (it was during the wintertime) and watch for someone either coming out or going in and then tag-along.
After a few minutes of waiting, I suddenly remembered that I had my cell phone in my purse with the braider’s phone number! I quickly dialed the number, she answered and came downstairs and let me in! I will never forget that moment—it is as fresh in my mind as if it just happened yesterday. That was the moment I became convinced that having a cell phone made a lot of sense not only for emergency situations but for every day occurrences. Whenever I find myself hesitating about trying out a new technology, I always remember this experience.
My suggestion to anyone avoiding new media technology is to give it a try—but you have to do more than just signing up and saying that you have an account. Really give it a try by doing your very best to observe and interact with others in the network. If you do, you will get a chance to experience what everyone's all worked up about. And you will find that if used appropriately, it doesn’t hurt one bit.
