Nowadays almost everyone who owns a smartphone or some kind of electronic uses social media. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or even Pinterest, everyone has their way of staying connected. While social media can be helpful to know what goes on in the world, it can also be very addicting, and from my experience it can turn out to be really bad.

I never had any kind of social media until I was in my second year of high school, for many reasons. One was I never understood what the big deal was and two my parents. They told me I didn’t need, and I would have no use for it. Which is all true. But they eventually warmed up to it and I joined Facebook. Everyone I went to school with had one. And I remember everyone who had an account played Farmville or one of those other games Facebook has. It didn’t take long for me to get annoyed from that game. But what annoyed me the most was getting all the game requests from people. But I learned to ignore them. Now most people who join social media doesn’t just use one account. It starts out as one and then it builds up. So what started out as having just a Facebook, turned into a twitter soon after. After the Twitter came the Aol. Back then it was pretty popular and soon enough died down, because everyone was on Facebook. I remember after a while of having the account, I found myself on Facebook everyday. Twitter not so much because it didn’t suit me at the time. Truthfully, I only made it to see what the celebrities were tweeting about. Which wasn’t all that big deal when I think about it now.

And of course as time went by Instagram was created and Pinterest. Pinterest didn’t really catch my eye so I avoided it. I never really looked into it so I had no idea of what it’s purpose was. But once I did, It didn’t take long for me to make one. Within creating the account I found myself on that app for hours every single day. I had a board for almost every topic. I was addicted to it and I knew it. I had to go on at least twice a day. It was getting so out of hand I would be on the app late at night. I would tell myself, just one more pin and I would call it a night. 53 more pins later and it’s almost 3 am and I have school the next day. It didn’t take long for me to realize that this app was bad for me, but so good at the same time. But I knew what had to be done. I deactivated my account.

There was never a social media that took over me like Pinterest. While Facebook did take a lot of my time, I know I don’t spend that much time on it. Even today. I would rarely post a status. The most I would post about nowadays are my articles. I do however spend some time on Instagram. I find myself scrolling through the popular page looking at random posts. I’ve come across quite an interesting amount.

Today I do find myself spend a good amount of time on YouTube. Everything is on there. From how things are made, to DYIs, to fixing things like your bike which I need to do, your favorite artists music videos, and other kinds of tutorial that can gives people all kinds of idea.

While there are many social media accounts to express yourself and share your thoughts and what your doing, there are other social media platforms that can help you. Like LinkedIn, that kind of social media helps you build something and connect with people that could potentially help you in the future with your career. You build your platform and build your network in a professional way. It’s about Networking. In today's society it’s difficult to get a job. But having connections can be very helpful which is why LinkedIn is available.

I do however must admit, I may not spend hours and hours one each social media account I have every day. But I do check them everyday. It has become a routine of mine that needs to change. Checking my phone isn’t the first thing I do in the morning (half true) but it is one of the things I do after waking up. I do realize that social media does take up a lot of my time, and space on my phone, but nowadays most people do rely on social media. Without it, not many people would be up to date with everything. Especially those who are at work all day. It’s not like they can just sit back for a while and watch the news to see what’s going on. With social media, it’s just one click away. So it can be useful to those and fun for others.