So I am curious as to how people prefer to “follow” other people on the Internet these days. Do you prefer to follow Twitter? Facebook? Google+? Individual blogs (like this one)? Are you more inclined to use the more adult sites and apps like bear411?
Personally, I think the best way to reach out to another person is still to meet them in person and talk to them face to face. But with the ability to make friends far away where meeting face-to-face isn’t a readily available opportunity, we rely on electronic means to communicate. Twitter is my go to for “snappy” blurts of information and it’s also the source for much of my news these days (which, of course, I follow up with fact checking after reading something on Twitter). It’s also the favorite of my social networking sites because it feels the least intrusive. Facebook creeps me out with it’s advertising. I occasionally see an ad that pops up in the sidebar on Facebook that is very much tailored to my lifestyle but in theory, Facebook shouldn’t know about my interest in product X because I’ve never discussed anything remotely like that on Facebook. Unless Facebook was tracking me around the internet, they’d never know that I was searching for a weather radio, for instance, because I don’t believe I’m a member of any storm chasing groups on Facebook.
I favor Google+ over Facebook simply because I like the interface better. The walls ring hollow since there’s a lot of people over there that aren’t saying much, though. My relatives and friends are on Facebook, so that’s why I use that. I wish more people were on Google+.
As far as the “adult apps” go, I have a few of them on my phone but I rarely use them. If Earl and I are traveling I might fire them up and see who lives nearby, asking Earl if Man X is cute in the process, but other than voyeurism I don’t really have an invested interest in those apps.
So, I’d like to know what apps and social networking sites my gentle readers use. Let me know what the cool kids are using these days.
Well, i actually use all the above, mostly because the people i like to follow don’t use the same sites, so it’s the only way to be in touch with all of them.
Lately i have been more a passive user than an active blogger, although i do post pictures on Instagram on a regular basis. i also post often on my “family and work” account on Facebook, where i write in Portuguese and comment on current affairs that wouldn’t make much sense to my foreign friends. It’s actually quite a creative outlet for me.
i also crosspost the pictures from IG to Twitter and Google+, and also Bruizr, the “bear social site”.
As a reader, i like my Twitter timeline more than the others. i think that it has probably the biggest concentration of people i care about other than family and work. But there are some important people for me who post more on Facebook, so i have now a best friends list there. i don’t read much of the rest on FB. i pay attention to a small bunch of people on G+, where my circles are rather small.
My approach to the adults apps is similar to yours. i log there every once in a while. Last week was one of those times and i have to say it was fun. i made a new local friend, which is always nice. But i don’t plan to spend much time there in the near future.
So i’d say that, on the receiver side, my current favorites would be:
1. Twitter
2. Instagram
3. Facebook/Bruizr/Google+/Livejournal
On the active side:
1, Facebook (family edition)
2. Instagram
3. Twitter
3. The rest, more as crossposting
Interesting perspective. Like you, I believe there’s no “one size fits all” approach. I enjoy crossing paths with you on common sites. 🙂
I’ve come back to where I prefer blogs more than FB and Twitter. I used to be a big Twitter person, with some cross-posting to FB. But I’ve been so busy at the studio in the last 6 months or so that I rarely even tweet any longer. So reading people’s blogs is where I tend to stick. As it was more a moment in time versus a stream of conscious thought.
I attempted Google+, but there’s not really a ton of people over there, and then there’s that busy bit.
As for the, er, “dating” sites and apps that exist, I’ve never been a big fan. Mostly because I’m not the most sexual person on the planet, and that is usually all that people tend to want there.
I tend to agree that all that people want on the adult sites is sex. I like the window browsing but that’s all. I have always been a fan of people watching, and this is kind of like a “people gaping” sort of thing.
As far as the blogs goes, it seems like there fewer people writing in their blogs as each day goes by. I think that’s one of the reasons that I keep this one alive. I’ve never existed in the norm.