100% - I accidentally logged into Chrome on my ‘work computer’ using my gmail address - which I only use for work, not anything else. And I had to look up something to do with one of the clients. Next of all - I had ads being shown to be in Twitter from that company… I was like, why am I seeing ads from these? Then I twigged it.
Aside from becoming an old grouch too - I don’t really feel a need for social media anymore. Perhaps it’s a youngers persons game. I can only imagine what will replace it. Something far worse I would imagine.
I cannot understand how people make money on Instagram and TikTok. I downloaded TikTok for about 2 minutes. Saw a bunch of people doing bunches of stuff on video and that was it. Apparently, people make millions off this. It’s just normal people following normal people.
A year ago, I designed a 100-page text/photo book for a publicity company. The subject of the book was a 13-year-old social media “influencer.”
She got her start at age 9 by making slime from Elmer’s glue and adding sparkles. Her mom made videos and posted them on YouTube. They took off and led to subsequent videos, which, in turn, spiraled into social media stardom with tens of millions of likes and followers.
By age 13, commercial companies had taken note of her as someone to exploit before she aged out of her niche. She was sponsored by a clothing company that targeted “tween” girls (9- to 13-year-olds). She had her own agent, a recording contract with a record label. And her agent was negotiating movie deals and guest television guest appearances.
The book I put together for them was supposedly a biography of sorts. A biography of a 13-year-old made no sense, but we did it anyway. A two-page spread about her dog. Step-by-step accounts of how she washed her hair and experimented with make-up. Nuggets of supposed wisdom from this girl on everything from baking cookies to decorating her bedroom to her nightly skin-care routine.
The whole thing bordered on creepy, as did my involvement — a bunch of grown people strategizing on how best to make money from this girl whose normal, suburban life was being disrupted and distorted with consent and encouragement from her parents.
At first, for me, this was just another job for a client. By the end of the project (three months later), I felt bad about my involvement.
My step daughter is works for a wildlife trust and in her spare time climbs mountains, crosses the Sahara, etc. She just started putting pics up on Instagram. She now gets clothing thrown at her. She has a side shizzle that pays her about £10k extra pin money a year. Jeep approached her recently and asked her to take their latest £50k model around Scotland for a week all expenses paid. Effectively her hobby gets paid for. She only has around 13k followers. However, her followers are so accurately targeted, so it is a better advertising spend than carpet-bombing with mainstream press.
That reminds me actually. My cousing made a video when he was in France as he couldn’t find any good tourist videos in English. He put it on youtube and it became a hit - with a few thousand watching every week/month (I don’t know the numbers) - but it started getting viewers, then adverts appeared on it - and now he makes a few hundred quid extra every week/month/year (i don’t know the numbers).
To add, this is going to sound a little nuts but for like a year I was using Snapchat for my news updates. Specifically, NBC News’ “Stay Tuned” channel. I know usually NBC is not so neutral but what I liked about Stay Tuned is they had to display the info within a 1-2 min window, usually cutting out time for opinion. Then if I wanted more info I would search online for more details.
I still have a Facebook but all my close friends know I only go online at most once every couple months. I even made a post that people should PM me through messenger or call/text directly.
Haven’t had a Twitter in over 6 years.
I’m on Snapchat and Instagram fairly regularly but I rarely post. I like Instagram as a historical collection of my photos and life events. Especially since I tend to lose pics when I transfer phones.
Snapchat, I have more active conversations with friends on there then I ever had on Facebook.
I’m on LinkedIn but I’m currently unemployed so who wouldn’t be. I don’t use it as a social media, just job searching and occasionally groups I follow have an interesting article.
When out to eat I don’t mind if a friend wants to take a pic of the place or their food when it comes (as long as its not dumb fast food) because I know they’ll likely tag the place we’re eating in support of that restaurant. I also know they are not going to create the post right now but when they are home.
Those pics are the line though. If they need to answer their phone or a text it better be fast and only the once while we’re out together.
My guess is people that are ok with that poor social behavior flock together.