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[CHAT] Days of our <online> lives

Who remembers the good old days of MSN messenger?

and MySpace? 

msn

Back before Facebook had come on the scene, you’d sit on MSN for hours at a time chatting with friends and pretending to log in *just* after your crush so that he/she would notice you were on (or was that just me?). Btw, Myspace is still a thing. Why? Who knows? But what we do know is that social media has changed – and grown – in a huge way. We’re liking each other’s FB statuses, retweeting, reblogging and sharing – connecting with each other in ways that were practically unthinkable a few decades ago.

 

All of this comes with benefits and risks, just like everything else in life. I’ll use Tumblr as an example: for those of you who don’t know Tumblr is a ‘microblogging’ platform where you have the option to make your own posts or ‘reblog’ (basically a type of sharing so that someone else’s post appears on your blog) a post. When I joined Tumblr I did not expect to find as many people as I have who share my worldview, and taught me so much about myself, themselves and the world. I was able to interact with people across the globe, and being Australian usually meant blogging with American nightbloggers who were awake during the wee hours.

 

night

 

Tumblr wasn’t – and still isnt’ – all glitter and fun times. A lot of the issues with Tumblr were similar for other social media platforms, and even now we’re still telling ourselves not to give out certain details about where we live. There’s always the worry that meeting an online friend IRL may not turn out as peachy as we might hope, and it can be difficult to read the intentions of a person you can’t actually see. This is where this week's Getting Real session comes in – hear social media stories of super great internet friendships, stories which didn’t turn out so great, and advice on how to stay safe online. Right here, Monday 29th June at 8pm AEST!

 

Sophie-RO
Sophie-ROPosted 24-06-2015 11:57 AM

Comments (9 pages)

 
 
stonepixie
stonepixiePosted 29-06-2015 09:26 PM
@redhead and @safari93 let us just blame the way that fb was set up like in the olden days.
 
redhead
redheadPosted 29-06-2015 09:22 PM
@stonepixie I did the is thing to. I would hate to see my old profile
 
safari93
safari93Posted 29-06-2015 09:17 PM

@FootyFan26 yeesh, that does not sound fun. Hopefully your parents are a bit more careful online now!

 
 
 
Chessca_H
Chessca_HPosted 29-06-2015 09:24 PM

@FootyFan26 thats sounds like it was a tough situation, remember you can always have a lot at our resources on family conflict for if that sort of thing comes up in future

 
 
 
 
FootyFan26
FootyFan26Posted 29-06-2015 09:27 PM
Sorry.

I didn't mean to be so negative. I just don't give a shi* about him anymore and hate his guts. I think just the 'parent' thing got to me a bit since I've been thinking about what it would be like to have a father figure all day.
 
 
 
 
Chessca_H
Chessca_HPosted 29-06-2015 09:27 PM

Good to see that we've all got an embarassing facebook past, lets move on!

 

Now that we’ve gotten through some of our more embarrassing online moments, tell us about something really awesome that’s happened for you on/because of the Internet.

 
 
 
 
 
ruenhonx
ruenhonxPosted 29-06-2015 09:31 PM

Now that we’ve gotten through some of our more embarrassing online moments, tell us about something really awesome that’s happened for you on/because of the Internet.

 

The internet has helped me get/apply for jobs, I have met some wonderful people in my life because of social media and it is an awesome way to keep in contact with friends/family that are not near me. 

 

The internet is actually a blessing. 

 
 
 
 
 
Chessca_H
Chessca_HPosted 29-06-2015 09:34 PM

@ruenhonx agreed, I have family on the opposite side of the planet who I would never get to talk to without the internet. Stuff like skype and facetime makes it even better!

 
 
 
 
 
FootyFan26
FootyFan26Posted 29-06-2015 09:30 PM
I've been able to keep up to date with the footy when everyone else has been watching TV. If I don't know the footy scores I get too sidetracked wondering about them.

I've also been able to create excuses for why I haven't done my homework!
 
 
 
 
 
stonepixie
stonepixiePosted 29-06-2015 09:32 PM
@FootyFan26 that is so true, although it is a different code, I don't have to watch state of origin anymore, I get a running commentary on my newsfeed and the best thing is that it isn't all one sided.
 
 
 
 
 
Chessca_H
Chessca_HPosted 29-06-2015 09:31 PM

@FootyFan26 if theres anything the internet is great for, it's procrastinating 😛

 
 
 
 
 
FootyFan26
FootyFan26Posted 29-06-2015 09:35 PM
I just find it great to blame if I haven't done my homework.

I can procrastinate and lose focus easily in a dark, empty room so i don't need the internet for that. It's just that you can't blame not doing homework on a pen or a piece of paper.
 
 
 
 
 
stonepixie
stonepixiePosted 29-06-2015 09:38 PM
Because of the internet, I get to see pictures of my nieces and nephews and even have some facetime with them. 🙂
 
 
 
 
 
stonepixie
stonepixiePosted 29-06-2015 09:30 PM

Now that we’ve gotten through some of our more embarrassing online moments, tell us about something really awesome that’s happened for you on/because of the Internet.

 

I found out where to seek help for my mental health like headspace and RO. And if I think of anything else, I'll let you know.

 
 
 
 
 
Chessca_H
Chessca_HPosted 29-06-2015 09:28 PM

I'm gonna go ahead and be a big cheese-ball on this question, RO has been a pretty awesome thing to happen for me online. Such a great community 🙂

 
 
 
 
j95
j95Posted 29-06-2015 09:25 PM
sorry i dropped off everyone but I'm back!
 
 
 
Chessca_H
Chessca_HPosted 29-06-2015 09:20 PM

@FootyFan26 sorry, step-parental blunders then

 
safari93
safari93Posted 29-06-2015 09:16 PM

@ruenhonx that's so scary and weird!! Why would someone steal a random person's pictures for something like that?

 
 
ruenhonx
ruenhonxPosted 29-06-2015 09:19 PM
@safari93 that catfish stuff is so real though. People catfish for so many reasons, poor self image is one of them.
 
redhead
redheadPosted 29-06-2015 09:15 PM
It happened 5 years ago.
 
safari93
safari93Posted 29-06-2015 09:13 PM

@redhead omg that must have been so scary!! I hope it's all been resolved though!

 
 
FootyFan26
FootyFan26Posted 29-06-2015 09:16 PM

 For a lot of us, using social media was a bit of a learning process when we first started. What’s one of your most cringe-worthy social media blunders?

 

My stepdad gave out my mum's password for her email that had a file of nearly all her passswords to a hacker using her FB account.  Guess who spent hours changing all their passwords?

 
 
 
Chessca_H
Chessca_HPosted 29-06-2015 09:17 PM

@FootyFan26 parental online blunders are the woooooorst! 

 
safari93
safari93Posted 29-06-2015 09:13 PM

@Chessca_H OMG the embarrasing pages!! You forgot about them eventually until you saw one of them post for the first time in two years and remembered to go back and unlike them all 😧

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