“Social” — Random Rant

Growing up, I believed social had to do with being sociable. A social person was one who was friendly and outgoing, fond of entertaining and being entertained.

During school, social became part of social studies. This was a class where we learned the history and geography of our surroundings together with tradition and cultural practices.

Then came Social Work a term used for charity work and community service. Fund raising events like fun fairs, concerts and gala dinners, allowed socialites to be in the limelight for a good cause. It was a win win situation if there ever was one.

Some preferred a more hands on approach to social work that involved less socializing . Cleaning up slum areas of the city, devoting time to educate underpriveliged children, and providing free food and medical care to the needy was more important in my opinion.

But who am I to judge? The so called social events were probably just as important. They raised money primarily, and when covered in the social pages of magazines and journals did much to propagate awareness for these causes.

We thought we had covered all possible meanings of the word social. Used as adjective, verb, and noun.

The advent of the worldwide web allowed Social Media to sashay into our lives. Social media has us not just in a firm grip but in a stranglehold.

It has managed to outshine every possible means of communication information and entertainment available in the past. we are thoroughly addicted to it and dependent on it.

I used to nag my children about the time they spent on social media apps and sites, but now I have caught the bug too. “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”

Written for:

SoCs — “social”

FOWC with Fandango — sashay

Word of the Day Challenge — shine

Images courtesy Unsplash