Social Media and Public Opinion

I have heard people say that social media - like Twitter and  Facebook - actually has the power to shape public opinion. I think of these apps as toys -- a mere distraction for people with a smartphone and too much time on their hands.   

I believe there is a huge difference between being entertained and being informed.  Social media is primarily designed to be entertaining.  I fully acknowledge that there are many posters on Facebook who think they are advancing an agenda by "sharing" information that they feel is vital.  But these folks are largely deluding themselves into believing that others are in fact  buying their point of view.

In Facebook and Twitter you really never know who is reading your stuff.  I am convinced that I am not the only one who quietly "hides" the posts of people who habitually abuse their "friends" by bombarding them with repetitious affirmations of zeal - whether it is constant blathering about Climate change, Biblical quotations, or political rants, they are all mere expressions of faith being preached to an agreeable choir of fellow believers.  

I am not decrying FB posts because they are empty, entertaining or ephemeral.  My charge is that they do not shape public opinion. When was the last time you learned something on Facebook that changed your beliefs ? 

Social media is a ME medium.  Because everyone needs to know what you are doing and thinking every minute.  Me. Me. Me. 

Where else can a person of average writing skills communicate such vital thoughts, as : 
"Boy, it is cold out there today." or  
"Took Dad to dinner yesterday.  He ordered meatloaf.  It was a hoot."
 "Hey everybody, just got back from vacation! Here are 120 great photos of our trip to Dayton, Ohio."

Rather than impacting public opinion, these applications enable people to feel that they are connected to others.  By boasting oops I mean posting my vacation pics, it says look at me --I'm somebody.  I have "friends." I go places.  I'm cool.  

Facebook is a perfect medium for this type of inane chatter.  Your family is potentially interested in every meal and bathroom break, but the rest of us might discreetly "hide" your posts  

Twitter is just another way for people to self-promote.  If you follow any sort of organization you will be bombarded with multiple posts daily which are no more than commercials for that organization.  News editors are the worst abusers of Twitter.  It is not uncommon to see dozens of posts by some local editor each with a link to a story in today's edition.  The police department posts inane announcements "On route to investigate report of barking dog on Elm St."   Twitter is just one big Tease, because you can never get any useful information in 150 characters.

How About Blogs?

Blogs can be a different animal.  Indeed, there are some pretty good writers who set out to inform you, nay to persuade you that you should believe what they believe.  The unlimited format of text and image allows for an in-depth treatment of topic, and hyperlinks to reference sources can serve as powerful supporting material. 
I acknowledge that some of these folks are capable of writing in such a way as to actually change the way others think.

But, most writers of blogs are like me -- frustrated, self-absorbed wannabee writers who can't help themselves from opining on a disappointing and imperfect world.  Writing is a recognized form of therapy.  But most of us would admit that it is mostly for our own entertainment.  Unlike the Political and Religious bloggers we do not expect to shape your thoughts or beliefs.   

Like other free social media, blogs tend to be followed and read by the same agreeable choir for that particular denomination: pro-Obama, anti-big government, dog lovers, foodies, and such.  Folks publish their list of "favorite links" which invariably consist of like-minded bloggers.  So in the end, 90% of blogs are indistinguishable from the Twitter or Facebook except they are longer.  In the end, nobody ever almost nobody ever changes their beliefs.

Women on the Sideline

Last night, I tuned in to watch the Cotton Bowl on Fox.  I did not  have a favorite team in the Texas A&M vs Oklahoma contest, I just like to watch top college teams play football.  Many of them will be future pro players, and it is fun to watch them while they are still playing for the fun and glory of the game, and not a big paycheck.

I have previously commented on my feeling that most of the women sideline announcers are annoying.  The announcer babes nearly always ask some dumb-assed question.

Last night the chick asks the coach "How did you prepare for this game..?"  A typical vapid question.  Almost as pithy as "How great is it to be in the Cotton Bowl?"   

The problem was that the teams were lined-up for the kickoff.  The viewers never got to see it.  Not even a replay.  The guys in the booth are stunned into silence.  It was reminiscent of a high school presentation on local access TV, except the sound was better.

Check out the video [here]  to see what I mean.  The sideline announcer chick is clueless that the game has started -- and so, apparently, is the FOX control room director.   After that shaky start, , the guys in the booth yakked mindlessly, and at times idiotically.  They never mentioned the snafu, apparently assuming that most of the audience was in the bathroom when the game started.  

The actual game was pretty interesting for the first half.  Both teams use "hurry-up" offense so there was a minimum of huddling and standing around and quite a bit of action.  At the Half, Texas was leading by only one point.    As usual, viewers were inundated by ads ever time there was a break in the action. During one of these commercial breaks, I tuned into another show, and watched it until it had a commercial, then switched back to the game. This is how I spent the next hour or so, switching the channel at every commercial interruption.

I stopped watching the game in the 4th quarter when Texas had more than 40 points to Oklahoma's 13.  The Heisman Trophy winner, Johnny Manziel played a great game for Texas.  We are sure to see more of him in the NFL in coming years.

Cheerleaders -The only chicks we want to see on the sidelines :-)

For the record, the only women I want to see or hear when I'm watching football are the half-naked cheerleaders.

In fact, I am really not interested in ANY interviews with athletes or coaches.  We typically get zero useful or interesting information  into anything from such dialogue.  It's like watching interviews with politicians - you never get the honest truth.

Annoyance Therapy

Memory device

Like many others who fancy themselves as Writers, I usually carry around a small pocket sized notepad for recording great thoughts, pithy observations, and random notes.  It is a great relief for aging memory banks to simply jot down a recommended book title, or a website URL.  ( The chief drawback with this device is that I often forget to read the notes that were so carefully recorded.  I have dozens of ragged notebooks full of unread scribblings)*

One section of the notebook is reserved for my list of annoyances. As you may have gathered,  I find that I am annoyed by nearly everything - weather, barking dogs,horns honking, wet mail, rap music, traffic, insects, soggy pizza, anyone with a smartphone, people in audiences, dreadlocks, commercials...  --the list is endless; I think you get the idea.

But, my genius is this: rather than letting annoying people and things drive me into grumpy irrelevance, I try to use annoyance as a creative force.  I recognize that annoyance is merely a mild form of anger.  Thus when something annoys me I do not let it control me. I do not shout and wave my arms.  I write a poem, post a blog entry, or regale the person behind me in the line at Starbucks with my latest cynical observation**.  By sharing these annoyances with others, I joyfully let them go.  They do not own me. I am free of their evil spell.

My audience often rewards me with reinforcing affirmations of legitimacy. Sure, there are those few humorless, self important, smiley-faced, lemonade-making optimists who regard my complaints as the feeble protestations of an aged goat. (Get over it, Dude. Stuff happens.)   I just add those people to my 'Annoying persons' list, where they are subjected to universal mockery and derision.

Some word usages that I think are annoying (Copied from Notepad notes):

Shocking - this word has become so over-used, especially in internet ads,  as to render it meaningless.  Apparently, the attention of a skimming reader is drawn to any sentence that has the word "shocking" in it.
The most absurd headline:  "Shocking facts about weight loss!" takes you to the URL of a company that sells pills that are guaranteed to help you shed hundreds of milligrams.

Grab - "Let me grab you something to drink,"  says my waitress.  Grab?  What happened to "Can I bring you something?"  Even Budweiser commercials have adopted the slogan "Grab some Buds."  Maybe it's just me but grab has a slightly larcenous connotation.

Momentarily - "The doctor will be with you momentarily." Gee you mean he will step into the room for a split-second and then disappear?  I know this one has been annoying pure English speakers for decades, but I still hear it often.


Ok that's enough for today.   There is risk of self-analysis morphing into mere self-absorption.  Especially on a cold day when you have no lunch plans.

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Notes:
 *Before I came upon the idea of the notebook I would jot  notes on napkins, odd bits of paper, 3X5 cards, envelopes, etc.  And I still have shoeboxes filled with the golden wisdom, hoarded in the basement.  I really must check them out someday and copy the good ones into a notebook.

** Three bucks for a cup of coffee --Really?

New Year Journal

I'm starting out the new year with good intentions:
 1) to exercise,
 2) to eat healthier foods, and
 3) to be nicer to people who annoy me.


This year I am feeling more open to a new experiences. I signed-up for a Tai Chi class starting next week at the Council on Aging. I'm  hoping that the ancient exercises will promote flexibility in the muscles and increase my sense of  inner peace.

I sure hope this works-out better than the Yoga class I took last year.  It was billed as "Beginner Yoga for Seniors."   I was the only male in the class.  I think I was younger than most of the ladies, but you never know with women over 50.  None of us was "in shape."  Clearly, we had all signed up expecting some magic to turn us back into the sleek slender sturdiness of our youth.

My own goal in taking last year's Yoga class was to achieve enough flexibility to be able to get-in and -out of the kayak that I bought on Craig's List the previous summer.  To imagine the difficulty, sit on the floor and try to rise to your feet without using your hands.  It is hard to do on land and virtually impossible to do in the water, when you are 70 lbs overweight.  So I thought the Yoga would be a positive step towards stretching my stiffened joints and atrophied muscles back into some semblance of  what the French would call souplesse.    

After loyally attending 8 sessions, I concluded that Yoga isn't the right exercise for fat guys.
The exercises - even as modified for seniors - were more painful than invigorating.  My chronic tendinitis of the left wrist returned and barked with agony whenever I put weight on it.  Most of my joints just felt sore for several days after a session.  By the eight week, I felt no better than I did when I started, so I skipped the last 2 sessions, and instead went to the pub for a couple of relaxing frosty pints.  Looking back with honesty, I should admit that I never did the exercises between classes.  It always seemed like too much trouble to get down on the floor because getting back up was painful.  I am sure that daily practice would have been beneficial, and I have not discounted trying it again at some future time -- after I have lost 40 or 50 pounds.
(For the record I did get out in the kayak a few times this past summer. The outings were enjoyable, but I am still resolved to develop the ability to enter and exit the craft without getting drenched.)
  Despite the earnest hope for a magical transformation that will restore the vitality and strength of my youth, my practical expectations for the Tai Chi class are modest.

As for my resolution to eat healthier foods, I have already begun to cut back or eliminate certain unhelpful foods from my diet.  I have not eaten a french fry (or as the French would say pomme frite ) in three months. Bread, rice, pizza and pasta are rarely served at the evening meal.  We have eliminated nearly all packaged processed foods.  Portion sizes of meat have been halved, and servings of vegetables have been doubled.   This is about all I have to say about the diet right now; I generally find the dietary musings of fat people to be boring and frankly, annoying.  I'm sure you feel the same way.  (Perhaps the details of my diet will be more interesting after I have lost 50 pounds.)

The last of my resolutions is to be nicer to people who annoy me.  This will be a hard one to keep, since I find myself constantly annoyed by companies and organizations and the people who work for them.  I am annoyed at the newspaper delivery guy for multiple crimes: Being late, letting my paper get wet, delivering when I'm on vacation hold, etc.  The publishers of the Globe annoy me by printing on cheap curly paper, being unable to conceal a progressive bias, and constantly increasing the price of each edition, despite the lack of original news content.  Airlines, phone companies, theaters, restaurants, HMO's - you get the idea:  I find daily annoyances in my dealings with these institutions and the minions who face the public (ie, me).

Yet I have lately come to the realization that the annoyance is within me, and not in the intent of the annoying party.    I now see that is the unrealistic expectation of perfection that causes annoyance.  Annoying people are not trying to be annoying - they can't help it.  They toss their papers on your wet lawn, nobly  thinking, "I'm delivering the news."   Dog walkers didn't pick-up that poop because they didn't realize that stepping in dogshit bothered you. The girl behind the counter at Dunkin Donuts didn't overfill your cup intentionally, she just doesn't understand English, so the words "Not too full." sound like "Fill that sucker to the brim!"

This year, none of this stuff will bother me.  See, the inner peace thing is already working!