LAST Words
ANN OWENS IS A WRITER, CREATIVE GENIUS, ENTREPRENEUR, MOTHER, AND
WIFE WHO ENJOYS PONDERING WHAT MAKES THE WORLD CLICK.
#takeabreakandenjoylife
Social media can be good, bad and ugly, but finding the right balance is perfection.
“Social media is the devil.” That’s
what my much better half says, and I get
that.
I will be the first to humbly admit
that I may have a slight addiction with
it. Okay, so I definitely do, but I’m
desperately trying to wean myself off
of it. I have found this process to be
disturbingly difficult. While I thoroughly
enjoy my job as social media director
here at TCM, I must admit that it is only
because I share the positive side of our
community and not the weird stuff. It’s
the weird stuff that gets to be too much.
Have you ever looked back on your
past posts and thought “OMG…why did I
tell people that?” Well, I certainly have.
What’s for breakfast / lunch / dinner?
Yeah, I’m one of those. Want to see my
pretty sandwich or what I just cooked?
In the real world, it is simply chicken,
rice, and green beans, but it quickly
turns into my own private Food Network
photo shoot in Social Media World. I
will “style” my plate with a little bit of
parsley and describe it like it’s going
on the menu at the Royal Wedding
reception: “Boneless chicken breasts
sautéed in olive oil served over a bed of
fragrant jasmine rice complimented by
fresh-picked, locally sourced green beans
that have been steamed to perfection.”
In the microwave–they were steamed
in the microwave. That’s talent, right
there, folks.
There also seems to be a good
number of foot shots floating around
out there, and I find this amusing. This
is very brave in my opinion, as feet can
either look really good or ewwwww.
You will absolutely never see my feet
perfectly framed in a photo, ever. I
will not show them on the beach. I will
not show them on the streets. I will
not show them in a car. I will not show
them in a bar (unless they are dancing
feet and that possibly has happened…
by accident). Obviously, I am jealous of
you people with nice feet.
I have definitely–more than a few
hundred times–bragged about my kids
and complained about my kids on social
media. Now that they are adults, I feel
kind of bad for throwing all of their
personal stuff out there for everyone to
see. All I can say is, thank God my mom
didn’t have social media. I look back
now on my ridiculously drama filled
posts about graduations and weddings,
proms, and all the other milestones in
their lives, and I earnestly wonder why I
did that. I wouldn’t stand on the steps of
City Hall and announce to the world that
Emma just drove off by herself for the
first time, and it made me puke out of
pure fear – like, I would NEVER do that.
I would (and did), however, announce it
to a few thousand of my “closest” friends
on Facebook. Makes perfect sense.
I guess what I’m saying here, is not
that I judge any of you for what you
post because any rocks that I throw
would boomerang right back and hit me
square in the face. Hard–they would hit
me hard and repeatedly. I am simply
fascinated by what makes us want to
share every aspect of our lives in such
a manner. What makes us unable to
share a conversation with the stranger
next to us, and yet we accept friend
requests and followers on social media
by folks who don’t even speak to us
in the grocery store or that we have
never met at all? I quite seriously have
“friends” on Facebook that do not even
acknowledge me when I see them in
public, but I have intentionally given
them permission to look at my personal
photos and see that I’m checking into
Olive Garden in Statesboro with my
kids. And repeatedly I have announced
my absence while out of town and
basically invited anyone into my home
that wanted to come on in. Good grief.
Admittedly, there are some really
good things about social media, and it’s
too bad that we can’t just limit it to that
and call it a day. It really is fun to see
all of your kiddos growing up, and I love
seeing what their next adventures are.
I have curated some fabulous recipes
and household tips and have found
old friends that otherwise would have
been lost forever. I thoroughly enjoyed
getting chatty with you gals on how
romantic the Royal Wedding was and
how we collectively sighed over the
way the Prince looked at his Princess.
I so appreciate the movie and book
reviews, travel tips, weather warnings,
lost & found animal network, and the
good things that bring us together as a
community and a nation. I will rejoice
with you over finishing your last chemo
treatment, and I most definitely will pray
for you as you begin your first. Because
of the social networks, let us not
overlook the fact that child abductors
have been caught and families have been
reunited. I cannot deny that the fact
my mom’s house selling in 2 weeks and
my being able to save her thousands of
dollars in commissions (sorry, realtor
friends) was directly related to Facebook
and so many of you graciously sharing
my post. I also think it’s kind of cool
that I know all your maiden names and
subsequently who your people are. I
always know if you are a FB friend if you
greet me with “Hey, Ann Foss Owens!”
Reality is that we have to take the
good with the bad just like anything else
in this crazy world. I do not understand
the need to share videos of people
beating children or animals and folks
who wield their power as a “Keyboard
Cowboy” to directly hurt an individual
or spread idle gossip like wanting to
be the first to share that someone has
been in an accident or announcing their
death. I personally have prematurely
announced the death of a community
member on FB. Thank God he had the
kindness to pass away later that day,
and I only looked like an idiot for a few
hours. I only joke about this because
his family got a very large laugh at my
expense and assured me that their daddy
would be laughing as well. I will never
make that mistake again.
I’m going to promise to put my
phone down more and to really live and
see through my eyes directly and to
record experiences and memories in my
heart and head instead of through the
lens of my phone or a post. I would so
much prefer that you like me instead of
“like” me and that you would actually
come and sit at my table to eat chicken
and rice instead of me embellishing my
cooking abilities with you virtually. No
matter how much we deny it, us social
media addicts do it for some sort of
attention and, in my book, a real hug is
the best attention there is.
#steppingbackintoreality
#notvirtualreality
#iamalsoahashtagaddict
#thatisanotherstory
#thesearesohardtoread #icannotstop
#okiamdone
144 Toombs County Magazine