HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO LIVE WITHOUT SOCIAL MEDIA?

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I wonder how our parents coped those days without social media.

My mother was a hustler, at different points in our lives, she sold different things such as drinks, food items, bags, shoes, coolers, jewelries and finally kiddies wear.

For some of these articles she sold, my elder brothers and I would hawk them in markets, or on the streets.

For the kiddies wear, she had a big shop where she stock up many of the items before the festive periods. During the festive periods, she goes to village markets nearby to sell them and on the days she had no village market to go, she stayed in her shop. She wasn't alone in that kiddies wear line. Once a customer is passing by, she along with other traders would begin to pull the customer and woo the customer into entering their shop to buy.

Sometimes, they verbally attack themselves or speak ill of another person's wares; calling it fake just to take the customer. It was hectic and always a battle. Did you know that some of the traders go as far as employing the services of native Doctors to come and make some incantations in front of their shop, so that they would always sell the most?

After some struggles and bad vibes from such trades, Mother decided to come back home and began to sell provisions in the house. Thank God the family house was built in students' area. So the sales became better than risking her life to markets yet there is always a struggle to sell. That was life without social media!

WHAT WOULD LIFE BE LIKE WITHOUT SOCIAL MEDIA?*

I may not get the header image right, but that man is in the dark, as if he is in a prison or so.

A life without social media would be Boring

Imagine have to physically carry on business advert with mouth- to-mouth approach. How many customers can you reach at the end of the month? Even if you reach those in your visinity, how do you create a global relevance or audience for your business? Definitely your counterpart using the social media would have more turnovers compared to you.

Physical attachment to friends and family would be sustained though.

Over the social media, someone can tell you he is doing ok but in the real sense he is not. A visit to that individual will tell the actual state. Friends are sustained and valued when people are physically there for others, this is not completely true with social media. There is no physical touch or a face to face contact which. Strengthens bond between couples or family members. On this, social media is wrong.😅

Communication would be both effective and ineffective

One the one hand, it can be effective in the sense, when people express themselves, their gestures, body language and facial expressions are also needed to understand what they mean. This may not be completely observed with social media, unless it is a video call. Some conversations are misconstrued due to the absence of the physical presence of the individuals involved.
On the other hand, it can be ineffective if there are discrepanies which may lead to a fight. If the conversation was over social media, at worse, you can politely drop the call. But without social media, when a conversation goes wrong, a lot can ensue. Fight, verbal attack, assault, quarelling etc.

While we can not rule out the importance of social media, however, absence of it wouldn't stop life but we would have been living behind the clouds.😅

Absence of social media would change my life for the worse . This is because life is better with social media. Below are the few reasons I can mention

WHAT WOULD LIFE BE LIKE IF THERE WAS SOCIAL MEDIA?

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Businesses would thrive better
With social media, you can advertise your business to all corners of the earth. People can patronize you even with meeting you face to face. You can also order your goods and get them delivered at your doorstep. There would be no need for rivalries in the market because there is enough space for everyone. .

Improved communication
I remember when I was dating my husband, there was no mobile phone. We make use of the traditional post office. I had no email address then,besides the queue in cyber cafes just to check mails was a day,'s waiting..
When he writes me, it takes nothing less than three weeks to receive it. And then when I respond, it takes another three weeks before he gets it. Just imagine how long it takes to pass an information across !
But with social media, in a matter of seconds, I can communicate with someone in another part of the World through WhatsApp call, chats, discord channel, name them.

This reminds me of another incident. When my brother was dating his finance, he called her on whatsapp video call one morning and found that she was very sick. She could hardly speak. When asked what her younger sister is doing about it, she said she is too weak to walk up to her room, she doesn't have the call card to call her sister who shares the flat with her, and that her sister was not online. So she couldn't reach her on whatsapp either. Meanwhile, her younger sister was in the kitchen,cooking and singing, not knowing her older Sister is in a bad condition. Subsequently, my Brother called that lady and told her that his finance is very sick and should hurry to her room and take her to the hospital. Did you know that the lady stay hospitalized for one week? What would have happy if there were no technology or social media .

New friendships are formed
Many have built lasting relationship on social media. Some have even found life partners through social media. Some join a group for singles or become fans with someone they care about and follow them. With time, they connect and find ways to make their friendship stronger and more long lasting. .
Today in social media, I have made many friends whom, even when I haven't met them facially, but have a warm and cordial relationship with them, hoping to see them some day.

It offers employment opportunities
Some are earning big from social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok etc. They sell their talents are as they curry the favor of many and earn followers, they are paid when their followers reach a particular number. Some get signed I for contracts just from social interactions on a media.

Education
Study groups are formed on social media. People can join and become members, adding value or gaining insight from contents and interactions with other group members. People enroll for courses and are taught on social media, whether in a WhatsApp group, telegram or others such as discord.

What do you think about social media, is it good for you, can you live better without it?
This is my humble submission into @hivelearners contest. I hope you enjoyed reading?