Blog #11

 The Unwritten Rules of Social Media

This week in class we discussed the different uses for social media platforms. We created a deeper understanding of which platform is typically used for what. To help develop that theory we did an activity that allowed us to explain what platforms we think would be best used in certain scenarios. 

By elaborating those concerns, I noticed that there seems to be unwritten rules of social media. We as a society (or younger generations) established these rules and ideas that we just seem to follow. I have never seen anyone discuss or write down these rules, yet they somehow exist. For example, I remember thinking about the purpose of Facebook. We all organically agreed that Facebook was meant to be used to reach an older audience. If we were to post on Facebook we wouldn't include any graphics or things that were trending. It would be a post to provide information or update a group about something. 

This same mentality would not fly on Twitter or TikTok. It seems like we all agreed that those platforms were mostly used for more a lighthearted topic. If the topic was something serious, it seemed like the ideal goal was to keep the idea short and to the point. No elaboration was needed besides being straight to the point. This same mentality would not work on Facebook. However, I question who made that rule? And why do we as a society follow that mentality so closely? 

I would like to know what would happen if we all started using different platforms in different ways. How it would work if we started posting things we normally would on Facebook but make it into a TikTok video. Or if we started posting small 'Tweets' onto Facebook. I think all hell would break loose. But it's interesting to think about.