Good and bad
It is a double-edged sword in reality. Yes it is great for local news if that’s what you want to read about. There are endless links for news, entertainment, sport, leisure and the list goes on. There are great benefits for connecting with old and new friends and joining like minded communities. You may see job opportunities or business opportunities a chance to liaise with retailers or suppliers. The messaging is instant and private and can be of great benefit to all parties involved.
Fake News
It is all over social media platforms, as much as the companies can do to stop it they can only do so much, fake news will always find its way through if not only by sheer volume of what rubbish people want to peddle. Sometimes it is political, sometimes it is for personal gain and sometimes it is just to cause trouble. Social media is open to everyone, good, bad and indifferent.
There are plenty of good people producing accurate and relevant information to help and inform other people. However, there are bad people who want to deliberately upset because they can. Getting caught up with controversial opinions shared by morons is not worth your time, just ignore them that is the best approach as often all they want is attention.
The Scary Part
Social media can trap you into a world of anger and resentment towards one particular subject or individual, may be releasing your frustrations and anger on a keyboard away from the real world seems like a good idea, it isn’t. If you speak to the person or group face-to-face you can interact properly, no time to plan answers or just ride on the back of someone else’s opinions with likes.
At least you will be able to go back and forth with conversation and actually share ideas see there physical reactions and look into their eyes. Somebody could be sitting there in a flood of tears trying to defend themselves because of somebody else’s spiteful opinion. Or maybe they are laughing at you because you have taken the bait, how will you know?
People can appear very brave whilst on their phones or laptops feeling completely disconnected from the person/people they are interacting with. They feel they can do or say whatever they like with no consequences that wouldn’t happen face-to-face they would probably run a mile like the cowards they are.
My point is don’t be sucked into their pathetic fake little world it is too easy to find yourself caught up in someone else’s twisted view of things and end up being dragged down to their level. It is easy to block the people or the group and move on, you owe them nothing!
Dodgy Deals
You won’t buy it cheaper anywhere else, special offers, one time deals, absolute bargains yeah right! If you are at your local market or dealing with a trader face-to-face you can physically see what they are selling, look into their genuine or shifty eyes and have an informed opinion. Maybe ask a friend and seek advice before parting with your cash or of course negotiate a better price there and then.
Or you just do it the easy way without the awkward face-to-face interaction, tap on a keyboard and interact with someone who you don’t know selling a product you can’t see, what could be better. Now I’m not saying there are not individuals and businesses selling genuine low priced products and services on social media. After all it is just another sales tool in their arsenal and it would be foolish for them not to use this medium.
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But always be wary, check the business website for example visit their premises, ask around or check their reviews. Too many people are being ripped off by unscrupulous scumbags who take your money and run, they don’t care. There are many stories of people being asked to pay up front and being promised the goods will be posted out to them and never receive it or end up with a pile of rubbish instead.
The one to be most wary of it payment by Cryptocurrency, the main advantage to criminal lowlifes is that it is untraceable. If you pay using crypto they can simply deny they received payment and there is no way of getting a refund or tracing the original seller. They will more than likely have a fake account (which is still far too easy to do) and take your money and move on to the next fake account.
Where there is an opportunity there’s a scumbag or often criminal organisations (collective scumbags) are only too willing to rip you off. The same adage applies in the real world ‘if it looks too good to be true’ it more than likely is. Again your best defence is common sense and an important element to remember is never feel pressured into some deal you don’t feel comfortable with.
These lowlifes will often try and pressure you into making quick decisions with one lie or another especially if they feel that they are losing you. They want to get their grubby little hands on your money at any cost. If in doubt walk away.
Summary
Social media can be a terrific source of fun and entertainment and great way to interact with friends. There is endless useful information and personalised feeds targeting your interests. But be careful, use common sense and don’t be fooled into believing everything you read.
It can be a negative place where you can get sucked into a negative world, idiots will always be idiots there is no stopping them but you can ignore them. Enjoy it and don’t take it too seriously, make the most of what social media has to offer.
