Dear "Social Media",

I know your name but I don't know you

I just know you’ve got a bad reputation

and that people only see you how you want them to

But if I did know you, I could still say that I’m not entirely sure I do

But I believe that you can be put to good use,

I just think there’s something you’re afraid to admit

and pin your name to

And truthfully, I don’t blame you

I hope this is not news to you and that it’s something you already know,

but you are powerful, important, and influential

You capable of doing great things on these grounds you own,

but you don’t take responsibility for all that you've helped grow

Your level of confidence is relatively high, and rightfully so

But I’ve been watching it all deteriorate and I’m worried

that you got lost somewhere early on down the road

At any point in time though,

you have the right to turn back and say no

I’m not sure you ever noticed it

or stopped to see where it all started to wither away,

but you no longer search for the sound of your heartbeat

because you would rather spend your time

looking for your "15 minutes of fame"

You should know that from here on out,

my words may start to sound like they come from an angry place

But I am not angry, I’m just passionate and concerned

about the mental health of the human race

So I ask you to be patient and listen closely as I speak:

You need to stop telling lies to people so carelessly

You need to stop asking us to be perfect

and stop making us feel unjustly insecure

You need to stop ignoring the flaws of humanity

and start treating us the way we deserve

Stop setting impossible and unrealistic standards,

and making it hard to accept ourselves and one another

in this imperfect world

And stop asking us to be the same

because all it does is hurt

Stop comparing and trying to destroy our egos and dreams,

and discouraging our sense of purpose

Stop allowing likes, favorites, and retweets to measure worth

because that kind of system is devastatingly distorted

And stop acting like value is cultivated inside of an app,

when it has an innate existence deep within our chest

Your lies are so infectious they cause people to feel alone and depressed

Stop being okay with being everything you’re not

and continuing to pass on detrimental ideas we were taught

Stop acting like we should accept those ideas,

because we should not

We should be taught and teach

to stop and check for blind spots in our thoughts

And please,

stop pretending that you can only be as happy

as everyone else seems to thinks you are

and that we don’t all have our own story, feelings, and scars

Beauty, intelligence, success, and the meaning of life

are only what we say and decide

They are not engraved in stone or written, signed, and certified

They are different for every individual,

for every blink of an eye

I know you may or may not agree

with every word that I have said and everything that I see,

but I think if you stop and look around you might see

you're pinned to the same name and responsibilities as me

And if you aren’t the least bit convinced

that any of this is true

read it again,

because I wasn’t talking to “Social Media”

I was talking to you

We made this name for ourselves and call it “Social Media”

because we’re afraid to admit that we're responsible

for the way things have grown

The field is provided but we’ve always been in control of the hose

We're given the materials but we get to pave the road

And I’m worried that this is something

we don't want to admit, understand, or know:

that we're the ones who can stop it all from getting worse,

or continue to let it all go

So at this point in time,

I'm asking you to turn back and say no

Say no to supporting the lies

and being a part of this game

Say no to building deceitful profiles

and hiding behind usernames

Say no to being broken or in pain

and still posting pictures with a smile on your face

Say no to only showing good and never the bad days,

and hiding the reality we all experience, feel, or embrace

Say no because I'm worried and afraid

we're not doing the best we can to take care of the human race

By accepting that we are humans and not usernames,

we merge reality and cyber space into one lane

And in doing that, we are helping care for and save the human race

In doing that and taking responsibility

for our own actions and names,

we are turning back and saying yes

to making a real change