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The New Hellscape of Social Media
Welcome to the nightmare of social media, 2025-style
I have been on social media for quite a few years now. My first foray into social media was with MySpace. I saw my students using it, and during the summer of 2008 (or was it 2007?) I opened up a page. Admittedly, I had a hard time understanding what to do with it. I really didn’t understand how to set up a page, or even what I should put on it.
When Facebook came on the scene, it was a widely-held belief that MySpace was for young people, while Facebook was for older people. The confusing nature of My Space and the relative ease of using Facebook won me over. After a few days of using Facebook and seeing how many people I knew were already using it, MySpace became a memory.
Learning how to use social media and learning all the do’s and don’ts took a little while. I learned not to use all caps. It meant I was shouting. I learned not to overshare or “like” my own posts. I learned to be careful about what kinds of pictures I posted.
In the beginning, I am sure I looked as awkward as Hillary Clinton in a blue-collar bar on the rough side of town. But I learned. In time I built a friends list, learned what not to post, and even got put in Facebook jail a few times for being a little too zealous in my disgust with Donald Trump…
