I use social media a lot - primarily Facebook - mainly to keep in touch with family and friends as I live a long way from them. I do, however, post frequently!! I share a lot of photos, and also trip details, but share a lot of daily observations and experiences as well - and I do have quite a following who express pleasure reading about my views on life as a foreigner abroad.
I have a lot of "friends" but the vast majority are people who I play some online games with, and not people I really know (though many of them follow my ramblings too!), but I filter out most of their posts, partly, I suppose, because I feel I would be intruding in their private lives when I don't know them - I am a private person (apart from what I share!) so respect their privacy. I never post anything rude or abusive, too private, or too controversial, so anyone is welcome to read my posts - though I can (and occasionally do) restrict certain people as to what they can see.
This means I do not "follow" any of my gaming friends, and set them as "acquaintances", and if any of those I do actually know post too much "rubbish" (like "is listening to ...", "is having lunch at ...", or are too political, too religious, etc.), which I am not interested in I also "un-follow" them - they are at liberty to do the same to me!! So this means that I have probably no more than a dozen people whose posts pop up in my newsfeed, and maybe as many "others" (organisations - like Sea Shepherd, who I like), who I follow as well, and accept notifications from.
My "gripe" today is those who "like" their own posts!! To me that is a bit like giving yourself a "high five", or a pat on the back, or kissing the back of your own hand! Surely you must "like" your post, or why did you bother posting it in the first place? Now, I understand that the various algorithms that Facebook use, say to decide what adverts to show you, use the "likes" of a post to promote that post to your friends - the more popular the post the more likely it is to be shown to your friends - so if you "like" it yourself then it might get a greater circulation, but I still feel it is a bit like blowing your own trumpet, and is something I could never do.
Circumstances made me move to Brazil in 2009, and I spent 6 months of the year there, and the remaining time in Peru, until 2020 when the Covid hit, trapping me in Peru for 14 months, before I managed to return to the UK, where I now reside permanently. I see the world through slightly rose-tinted glasses, but maybe because I have been fortunate in not suffering too many hardships along the way, and maintaining an optimistic, but realistic outlook on life.
