The River of Social Media

I sit here and contemplate the years since I joined this world of blogging and think of all the changes of the internet world. Much like a river, it is always changing, always broadening its knowledge and capabilities. Some of those changes are great but some are a little scary to be honest.

It does not seem so long ago that I jumped into the little stream of social media. At the time I was a newbie and barely knew what I was into but I hopped on my first social media site... Bebo. Does anyone remember it?

  

I loved it at the time and had a lot of fun but this generation coming will never know what it is because the site has long since died.

That stream was a short one and I was deposited into Facebook. 

In that time if you had a Facebook then you were in fashion and up to date. I find it amusing really that it was so important to me that I join. But it helped that my Grandma was already there making her presence known and creating albums full of pictures for my family and me to enjoy. I enjoyed it but it also slowly died with the coming of Instagram and Snapchat as well as the competition of Google Plus and Twitter. I never left Facebook permanently, although my friend list has been cut in half and much of my content has matured. I still have it as I keep up with 4 Instagram accounts and my Snapchat. 

Now Google Plus is shutting down...

but only a very few people even notice. It isn't popular or interesting anymore because they did not work to make it easy to limit what shows on your feed, made it too much like a million blogs coming together into one big site. 

I think with social media a few things are very important.

1. Privacy and Security

2. The range of what the site is capable of sharing 

3. The control you have over the comments made 

Those three things ought to stay in the system. Improve, not be dismissed. And if you have your settings set up, updates made to the system should not mess with those settings. I have often found Facebook precarious about their privacy and security settings. Many times people I have never met before have commented on my pictures and only then did I realize the security update Facebook had done messed up my settings. However, the ability to connect your apps to Facebook so all your friends can join your games or see your activity is a plus and I think many stay with Facebook just for that. In addition the group pages that Instagram does not have also keeps Facebook alive.

But I wonder with all this change in social media if there might be another site to start up and put another current in the water. 

I'm excited and looking forward to any new adventures. I'd love to hear if you have any other social media sites you found fun but are no more because of the ever changing world! Comment below!

P.S. If you have commented on my blog posts using Google Plus before they shut down, I will no longer see them. 

Farewell to Old Faithful

Back in 2014 my family made the great Eastward journey and it was not long before a new arrival came into the family. 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited was its name and it enabled us to go to work and shopping. My brother owned it first and I later bought it off of him. I was pleased to have my own wheels (if not the type) and I enjoyed many fun times with my friends and family, listening to music with the awesomeazing stereo system. Then I entered a new chapter in my life and my boyfriend began adding to my memories in this vehicle. We drove to lakes and rivers, through country and city and put many miles on it.
In Fall of 2017 my poor Jeep hit a semi tire and the rear axle snapped. A lot of jarring and fright but I managed to get it parked at a Speedway off of the interstate and there it sat til we came back with a trailer to tow it to my boyfriend's stepdad's shop. We began the search for a new axle but grew discouraged as I was between jobs and so was my boyfriend. So it sat until, finally, in the summer of 2018, we got the old Jeep on the road once more...not without obstacles and many headaches and greasy fingers. It just wasn't the same, however, for it's old creaky joints were groaning and popping and rather scaring me to death. The tires were cracked and bald, the transmission slipping and the taillights worked only when it suited them.

Finally, after spending hundreds in repairs in an attempt to keep Old Faithful on the road and crying many tears of frustration, the decision was made. It was time to part. The search for a new vehicle was not easy having no credit to our names and not being successful in getting a loan from any banks. Then, one day in January, my eyes were dazzled by a lightning blue Ford Mustang. I am not a Ford fan at ALL but the color and sporty look of this car was just what I wanted. So I took a ride and the smooth drive was heaven! It was not my dream vehicle but definitely an improvement from what I had. So we have begun the payments to the end of owning this beauty and in return we had to bid farewell to Old Faithful and say hello to the new Mustang.