When it comes to social media, there is not a whole lot I take part in. I have had a cell phone since I was in the sixth grade, and the only reason I had one was so when I was done mowing a yard or doing some other type of landscape work, I could call my parents to come and pick me up. From the time I got my hands on a cell phone, until the time texting among friends became popular towards the beginning of high school, instant messaging was fairly popular. The only time I really got on was when I wanted to get a hold of someone that didn’t have a cell phone. When high school came around and instant messaging was taken over by text messaging on cell phones, I never really texted people just to talk, but most of the time only to make plans or see what the day’s homework was. I knew a handful of people that would send five thousand up to ten thousand texts on a monthly basis. I averaged maybe a couple hundred in a busy month. Along with the texting craze, came the MySpace craze. I honestly don’t remember when it was first popular, but I never had one or looked into getting one. It was sometime in high school I let a friend talk me into creating a Face book page, and it turned out that I ended up just letting them create me one for the most part. I have had my Face book for a few years now, but I never post pictures or write on anyone’s wall, except on very rare occasions. I have maybe forty or fifty pictures on my page, and I have only put up three or four. The rest I have been tagged in. It’s safe to say I am one of the most lame Face book owners out there, because there have been months in a stretch I haven’t even logged on, and I have received emails saying my account was inactive and if I didn’t log on within a few days it would be deactivated. As if a cell phone and a Face book page aren’t enough, I have found out recently about a network called Instagram, which is a lot like Face book, except you can only follow people and post pictures, and not add them to a list of friends like Face book. I have never looked into getting an Instagram, and I can almost guarantee I never will. There are also social media popularities like Twitter, but just like Instagram, I have never seen one, I don’t ever plan on changing that. I just don’t understand what makes all of these networking systems so interesting or fun. I use my cell phone mainly to make phone calls, and I only text when it is more convenient for the other person, or myself depending on where I am. This sounds sort of harsh, but at least as far as people on my friends list goes, the people who make the most status updates are either the most insecure about their lives, or they don’t have a job that requires them to work more than once a week. For the second part of this essay regarding my views on the media, I will share my thoughts about older, less common ways in which people can contact one another. One of these ways includes writing someone a letter, and mailing it to them. To me, a letter is a whole lot more meaningful than a text message, and this is for a couple different reasons. For one, it takes a lot more time and effort to mail a letter, than it does to send someone a message on a computer, or text them on a phone. The other reason I think letters are so much more meaningful is because they are more heartfelt and straight forward. On a computer, you can type whatever you want and change anything you want to reword, big or small. Same goes with texting one cell phones. A letter is a letter. You can’t mail it and change your mind about what you said, so while writing, your thoughts must be honest and in line. Another way in which people can contact one another is one that seems to be fading away. This involves meeting face to face and talking to one another in person. There is no other way to come across as sincere and truthful as you can in person. You can hide your facial expressions and word things how you want them through the media, but you can’t hide many of those things in real person. I know there will be many newfound social networks in the future to replace the one’s around today, but as the current ones seem to often direct people to unwanted outcomes, I think many of the future ones will do the same. I have seen many photos put up on Face book that started verbal wars amongst friends, and many statuses that have done the same. Just as fast as people can compliment on what they like about things others have posted, they can tear them down with cruel comments and feelings get hurt.