Today’s expression: “To beat around the bush.”

Meaning: To stall, waste time, and/or avoid saying what you mean, usually because it is uncomfortable.

Origin: In medieval times, hunters hired men to beat the area around bushes with sticks in order to flush out game taking cover underneath. They avoided hitting the bushes directly because this could sometimes prove dangerous; whacking a bee’s nest, for example, would put a swift and unwelcome end to the hunt. 

---

Side note: Today’s brain teaser is another of my favorites. I challenge you to read it (and reread it and read it again and reread it again and read it for the fifth time and…).

---

How social is media

Social is defined as “relating to the aggregate of people living together and/or its organization.” Media is the summation of the methods by which people can communicate with other people.

Humans are social creatures who rely on seeing, hearing, and touching other humans in order to maintain health. We think of someone as sociable when they are outgoing, enjoy discussing obscure topics in detail, and are skilled in the art of conversation.

We think of media as all the different ways to hear news and gather information. The four types of media – print media, broadcast media, outdoor media, and the internet – are constantly evolving to reach as many people as possible as efficiently and conveniently as possible, almost to the point of being inefficient and inconvenient.

Social is media in that the billions of seen and unseen interactions among billions of seen and unseen people make up the foundation for society as we know it.

---

But how social is media?

At its core, social media is one person or group sharing their voice(s) with another person or group.

I won’t beat around the bush. Media can be unsocial.

People love to talk about themselves. Media tends to be more anti-social when the central message does not concern the aggregate. Media, therefore, is not so social when the message is egotistical.

When groups or individuals become targeted for the purpose of damaging relationships, media is turned into a tool of destruction. Media is not so social when affected individuals become more distant relationally.

---

Brain teaser:

A man and woman have a combined age of 91. The man is now twice as old as the woman was when he was as old as she is now. How old are they?

---

A+