Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Social Media Misgivings

If I were to classify my relationship with social media according to one of the most popular social platforms, Facebook, it would rank as: It's complicated.

Yes, I admit social media and I spend time together almost daily, but it is not a very balanced relationship. I take more than I give. When it comes to Facebook and Instagram, I am more of a spectator, browsing the news feed and checking in on life events, activities, thoughts, and interesting articles/videos/pics posted by my family, friends, and acquaintances. But, whenever I think about actually posting on social media, I become old-fashioned. I find myself questioning, "Why am I even posting this in the first place?" Is it just because I want to feel accepted, heard, approved of and "liked?" Do I just need a quick pick me up? I start to think that maybe this relationship is completely self-centered.

Some days after browsing my news feeds, I have found myself dissatisfied. Being with social media makes me unhappy about myself and how boring my life is. Everyone else is traveling to Europe, going out with friends, capturing picturesque moments everywhere they go, and looking beautiful all of the time. Then I stop and do a reality check. If I compare my life to the highlights of everyone else's, then of course the fact that I'm sitting alone in my bedroom spending time on Facebook looks very boring in contrast. What we miss when we log onto social media are the mundane moments. Who posts about making their breakfast in the morning, or walking to the bus, or doing hours of studying at night? Well . . . some of us actually do. Yet, even if these moments are captured on social media, it is amazing how different they look from real-life. An Instagram filter can make even the most commonplace situations look magical. A recent speaker I heard said, "Thanks to Instagram, I've realized that the only thing between me and looking good in a photo is the lighting." Social media's focus and filters do not help my self-esteem.

Undoubtedly, social media offers us opportunities to talk with, share with, see pictures of, and connect with people all around the world, and this is both a good thing and a powerful thing. The danger is that this technology can distort our perception of reality. Life is made up of more than just the moments that we share on social media. We start to blur the line between our online lives and our real lives, and begin to think about events in terms of what a great Facebook post it will make. In order to have a healthy relationship with social media, we need to realize that all is not what it seems.





No comments:

Post a Comment