If you're a social media professional or enthusiast (notice I didn't say guru), you've undoubtedly followed the constant stream of social media news. I know I've seen article after article asking "Are we done with social media yet?" and voicing their waning interest in their social media channels. In some cases, this is turning into cases of social media actually being avoided or abandoned.
Two examples in particular caught my eye. One was the article about John Mayer leaving Twitter. That's right, not taking a break...but leaving Twitter and his 3.7 million followers altogether.
The other example is Harrisburg University of Science and Technology's upcoming social experiment where they will forbid students from using social websites and applications for a week. Considering I get the shakes if I have to go a day without social media, I'm sure that experiment won't be all that popular.
But both of those stories beg the question, "Are we seeing a true social media backlash?" Social media use has been growing for years, but the number of articles and posts criticizing that use has increased even faster.
At the end of the day though, I don't see John Mayer or Harrisburg University causing the downfall of social media. However, these cases do deserve to be looked at because, as we continue to immerse ourselves in social media, we could see more instances of people backing away from it.
