A Social Disease

I rarely repost the blog entries of other writers in their entirety, but today's the exception.

I loved this...

Gettin' social

 from Geezer Online by Doug Jamieson

Everything is social now.

I just received a promotional message for a company that offers social performance management.

It seems everything has now been renamed to include the word "social," which is the new hot buzzword since social media arrived on the scene, and there's a minefield of jargon out there.

Not sure, but I think social media are pretty much the same as social networks, but it's possible that confusing the two in conversation would be an embarrassing social faux pas, and might risk one becoming a social outcast for breaching the social norms of his social stratum, even if he is just trying to be sociable.

And don't confuse social marketing with societal marketing, or social media marketing, all of which, apparently, are entirely different things.

If someone says they're into social wallpapering, they are not holding a keg party to redecorate their dorm room, and a social application is not a form to sign up for a swingers club.

It goes on... social workplaces, social finance, social bookmarking, social business, social thinking, social learning, social computing, social technographics, social search, social monitoring, social epistemology. All quite worthwhile, I'm sure, but not terms you're likely to encounter in casual conversation at, say, the strawberry social.

I've found that it's safest to completely avoid the word "social" when socializing.

I've complained that social networking is a term we should avoid in education.

But then I have very few social skills and absolutely no social graces. Perhaps that's because I flunked social studies when I was in school attending too many socials instead participating in social learning opportunities.

While I can't believe the overuse of this word leads to all the social ills of the world or could even be categorized as a social disease, I agree with Geezer Jamieson that it's worth thinking twice before using the term.

At least in polite society.

Comments

[Bob]

I'm a Facebook wall-flower - not very active. Does that make me asocial or antisocial?

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Bob,

I am a great lurker on Facebook - seeing what my friends and relatives are up to - not posting much myself.

When you decide if that is asocial or antisocial behavior, I'll need to know too!

Happy holiday season to you,

Doug