I swear, the things I see on social media these days are ridiculous. Here on Odyssey is one of the only ways I can express my frustration.

1. People don’t know when to mature and leave a conversation

I could not even tell you how many times I have seen arguments over small things under someone’s picture. Whether it was about something in the picture or just about a comment that someone else made, a long winded argument would be displayed in the comments area. Usually, you would also have other people jumping in to defend someone else. You could ask, “Why are you even paying attention to that?” And, hey, guess what, in a sad way, it was actually interesting to see such a thing take place. Humans like chaos sometimes.

2. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, so we must defend ourselves as much as possible

IT IS THE YEAR OF THE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION and we ALL are fully aware of the top two candidates. But as most people know, when it comes to politics, everyone has their own opinion and they aren’t afraid to not only say it, but to defend it. And where is the most popular place to display your opinions? Social media. It’s not just people's opinions of politics that are displayed, but just people's opinions on other people are posted as well. You don’t like someone? Post it on social media. Heard some gossip? Post it on social media. Made a “funny” meme using an ugly picture of someone you know? Post in on social media. Some of the posts that people make on their profiles can actually be hurtful to other people depending on what the content is, especially if it’s a post making fun of other people, and this is where cyber-bullying starts.

3. The only thing that matters is how many followers you have

“How many followers do you have?”

“Me? Oh, I have 100, you?”

“Only 100?? I have 2,156 followers? Where have you been?”

“Oh… well you know I just made my Instagram recently... so still working on it.”

People are so concerned with the number of followers that they have that many accounts advertising get free followers. I actually get excited for some reason when I see that a comment was added under one of my pics but then get mad when I realize that it was just someone advertising about getting more followers and what account to go to. (In my case, I blocked the IG notifications on my phone so it forces me to physically go to the app to see notifications which means I don’t know what the comment says prior). Nowadays, people buy followers and they have a huge following, so that’s good for them. However, even for people who didn’t do any of that and just have a huge following get backlash with comments from people wondering whether they bought their followers or not and how it’s impossible for them to have that many…

4. The other thing that matters is how much likes we get

The main reason I blocked the Instagram notifications on my phone was because after I posted a picture on there, I was always looking at how much likes I received. So without even going to the app, I was obsessed with checking how many people liked the picture and if I had any new followers or comments. It almost kind of gave me anxiety having to keep checking my phone every now and then to see the notification number count, as if I was playing the texting game with a guy I liked and waiting on his response to my message. To be honest, I know it must be frustrating when you don’t have many likes but it takes time, that’s just my experience.

5. “It goes down in the DMs”

Ha… things really do go down in people's direct messages and some of those things are pretty. You have people flirting with others who may or may not have a significant other or bf/gf. You have people advertising their businesses. Hey, you even have people sending pictures of their private parts that they find “oh so attractive” to others who they think will like it too. Remember, people can still screenshot your messages and you wouldn’t even know. Yeah, you can do that with text messages as well, but when it’s on social media, it's on the Internet and it is there… forever and…ever and…ever…er.

6. Relationships are only official if it’s on social media

For you, it may not be true. But for many, if they're official, their significant other better post their picture with hearts and kissy faces. There is so much distrust now in our generation when it comes to dating (*cough cough* people sending certain STUFF in other people’s DMs *cough*) that if they don’t post a couple picture on their page, then they must have “side chicks” somewhere that they don’t want to see the picture (this applies to females as well, but in this case, I think females are more obsessed with this one).

7. It's easy to stalk people

There have been many incidents where celebrities have not only been stalked but also assaulted by fans, as well as haters. To give an example, Selena Gomez was actually a target of such assault. She sold her house for a huge amount of money due to the fact that a man not only trespassed on multiple occasions but he also burglarized her home. When everyday, common people post things on social media such as "I'm home only" or anything that suggest that they are away or whatnot, it increases the amount of burglary or assault incidents.

8. Children, YES including middle schoolers as well, become "tainted"

Soooooo, one day I was just on Instagram, just browsing through, and I get followed by someone. So I'm like, "Cool! let's check out this person's profile." (Don't act like you all don't do that too. You know, just investigating the other person.) The things I saw on that person's profile is something that kids should not be exposed to. Seeing this profile actually made me aware of this kind of "underground" or "secret world" that essentially all types of social media, but more so Instagram, have. And to be honest, just by searching one simple word or hashtag, this type of profile with its inappropriate pictures can be easily found by others. Curiosity killed the cat, and even though some wouldn't expect a fifth grader to search such a thing, you never know these days with some of the things kids know now.

9. It's a huge distraction

Yes, texting and driving is a huge problem, but social media is also a part of this as well. In terms of people born in the 90s, as well as early 2000s, the Internet has been a big part of their life. With apps such as Instagram and Twitter, people are always checking their notifications and seeing who said what and what arguments are going on. Accidents do happen due to the constant checking of one's profile on social media, but this constant checking also takes people away from doing other things in their life such as following through with extracurricular activities and being active. Thus, many people don't improve their skills or learn new ones

10. People tend to gain a sense of insecurity

It's all about what you put out there that determines how many likes, shares, followers or even comments you get, so of course it is sometimes nerve wracking when it comes to deciding what you're going to post. I think that after a while that starts to drain some people's confidence. When they don't get the amount of likes that they thought they would, they start to feel a little anxious. Like a "what am I doing wrong" kind of feeling. Overall, I think that is not a positive experience that anyone should have.

11. You can't help but compare your life to others

I look at some of the pictures that others have posted and I ask myself, "What am I doing with my life?" This might not be that bad for some people because it makes them want to do more in their life such as visiting many different countries. To somehow strive and become that person they always wanted to be, the one traveling everywhere and posting those awesome pictures (until they remember that they're just a couch potato and they love to eat food and they don't make enough money to do all that). However, is it really okay to compare yourself to others? It depends on what it is. It is bad if you're comparing yourself to others and then nitpicking things about yourself such as your appearance. And in this way, it links to number 10, about gaining a sense of insecurity.

But regardless of everything, you still can’t help but love social media. You get to show people another side of you than the one they usually see in person. Hey, I’m not a person to judge, so if you want to post that bikini pic or a picture of you hanging around snakes or with your favorite presidential candidate, “You do you, boo boo!”