Read original post of article here: https://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/2018/05/27/facebook-twitter-instagram-navigating-social-media-masses/646115002/
Social media has become so ingrained in our culture that it is being used to connect people across continents, bully people as faceless users and stir the pot in politics.
In order to help those who are not as obsessed with social media as me, I thought I would give a rundown of some larger social media apps or sites so everyone can at least have some broad knowledge.
Facebook is the starting point for many people when they think of social media. Facebook has been around for years and you can friend people from your high school class and see what everyone is up to. But mostly people use it to stalk their exes or other people they don’t talk to so they can know about their lives without having to communicate. People also like to post accomplishments on their page to subtly brag about their achievements without seeming completely narcissistic.
Another oldie, but a goodie is Twitter. In 140 (well, now 280) characters, you can tell a joke, interesting quote or random statement on your page. You can follow celebrities, friends or strangers and see what comments they’re making about the world. This platform is mainly text based, but pictures or GIFs will pop up, too.
Snapchat
Snapchat has made many changes throughout the years, but mainly it’s to send pictures to your friends that only last about 10 seconds (unless of course the person viewing the photo takes a screenshot in which case, it lasts forever). You can add weird filters to your face, like looking like a piece of toast or a cat and you can add captions to the photos. You can also take videos if something exciting is happening that you want to share. You can even upload these videos and photos to “your story” so all of your friends can view them as many times as they want within a 24-hour period.
Instagram is all about the photos. Yes, you can add texts, tags and hashtags, but ultimately, people show up for all the pretty pictures of food, beaches and people. Once again, you can follow your friends, celebrities or strangers and you can make your account private so people who are not your friends can’t see your photos.
On the professional social media side, there is LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a place to connect with coworkers, current or past, and show off your experience on your page. You can also post interesting articles, message other users and look at job postings. Overall, it’s a great website to help you network and keep up with previous coworkers if you are looking to switch jobs.Get the News Alerts newsletter in your inbox.
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Pinterest is all about what you might want to do someday. You search relatively anything, like “cookie recipe” and thousands of pictures will pop up and you can click the picture and be taken to the website so you can find a cookie recipe. Many people adore this site because they can plan their future wedding, save recipes of food they will never make and find pictures of crafts they will never do.
These are just a few of the many social media sites out there. When first starting out in the social media world, be careful who can see your comments, pictures or tags because the security settings are not always clear. Ultimately, though, you should have fun with social media and don’t get too bogged down with what other people look like or say. Social media is the highlight reel of people’s lives, not the outtakes.
