Social media is pretty much unavoidable nowadays. It’s become a part of your everyday life. You can search just about anything, watch anything anytime instantly, run a business, market a business, post, like, comment, share, communicate, and even more on social media. It’s completely taken over life now, but the question always arises – has it been taken too far? What do you think? Do you just wish it would go away sometimes? Maybe that TikTok ban would’ve been a good thing. Social media has fully changed the way we interact, communicate, and take in information. It’s just an integral part of modern life influencing everything from politics and business to personal relationships and even how you see yourself. But with all the benefits we can see from social media – it’s a paradox because it can be awful. It’s a space we love to visit and can’t seem to get off of, but it can make us feel miserable.
Here’s why I’m a fan of social media. It’s instant connectivity. One of my best friends lives in Germany, if social media wasn’t a thing, it would take weeks to get in contact with her. Now we just send instagram posts back and forth to each other and comment on each others TikToks. It’s so easy. It’s an instant gratification and keeps us caught up with one another no matter how close or far we may be. I even got my grandma on Instagram and now she can keep up with all her grandkids on socials and even find some new recipes to try.
Social media can also create a sense of belonging. Different online communities like makeup influencers and even wilderness camping videos can make you feel a part of someone’s life, like you actually know them. From online chat rooms to live videos, it’s a place where people can just make friends, be happy, and share in some common interests.
The internet is also a great source of entertainment. Platforms like TikTok and Instagram are designed to provide endless streams of short, digestible content, 30 second videos are less that show what we want to see. I mean I’ve been guilty of scrolling on TikTok for hours alone in my room literal;y laughing out loud at some of the videos I see, however at the end of the day, that never makes me feel good about myself. This constant stream of never ending entertainment not only distracts us from the monotony of daily life but also provides us with brief moments of laughter and connection. It’s a weird type of escapism. You are able to tune out of daily life but that enthralled with the chaos of other people’s life. It’s weird, it’s addicting, it’s now the norm.
One thing I notice the most is social media is a great place for self expression. There’s different areas of the internet where everyone is accepted for everything. You can be free to create and post whatever. Whether it’s posting Day In The Life videos or Get Ready With Me’s, or even live streaming you playing video games, you can just be you on social media and you will be able to get followers that share the same interests. Sounds all sunshine and rainbows right?
But here are my main problems with social media. It can be a place of bullying and lead to many insecurities and bad habits.
Social media can be an addiction. A lot of people just have their phone glued to their hand with insane screen times of up to 10 hours a day. And it’s a bad cycle too, one that leads a lot of people to a feeling of guilt and regret, there goes your whole day to just watching someone else live theirs.
One of the most frustrating aspects of social media is the pressure it creates to present a “perfect” life. It’s super important to remember social media is a highlight reel. People pick and choose what they want to show. So that Day In The Life of that perfect influencer you may have seen is likely not accurate. It’s a constant battle of comparing yourself. Wishing you were like the people on your screen when in reality those people perfectly curate their posts, editing, filters, and only sharing what they want. It can become super messy. The constant exposure to perfection can be mentally exhausting. Comparing yourself is one of the worst things you can do to your esteem and unfortunately, social media does an excellent job of forcing us to compare.
So much time and energy can get wasted on social media doom scrolling. This is probably one of the most anxiety inducing things out there in the world right now. It’s the habit of endlessly scrolling through negative posts on social media. Deep diving into the latest problems and issues when in reality probably more than half of it is fabricated. It’s tough and it’s hard to change and break that habit.
Even though you probably know what it does to your brain, it’s just something you can’t let go. t’s a paradox: we love it for the connection, entertainment, and validation it offers, yet we hate it for the anxiety, pressure, and disconnection it also causes. But again it can be so complicated because of all the good that has come out of it. What do you think? Has social media gotten out of control? Or is it doing a good job keeping the world closely connected?