I vow to delete my Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook for a month, to discover something that should've been painfully obvious to me from the start and that is; we as a generation waste our time living someone else's life. Steve Jobs, Apple's founder and innovator once addressed an audience of soon to be Stanford graduates, and said something that has made a home in my head. He said, "Your time is limited, don't waste it living someone else's life."
So here I am, a recent college graduate, and I along with the entire class of 2018, am struggling to figure out the next step. I find myself opening Snapchat constantly. Every minute of the day, I click on the yellow app and navigate my way through my social media friends stories. I see some friends who are partying on rooftops of the massive skyscrapers in the big apple, fellow recent graduates starting their first ever full-time "dream" jobs, others enjoying their vacations on a tropical island and then there's me, sitting on my parents couch watching the view and eating fudge stripe cookies.
Sounds relaxing I know. But that relaxation slowly turned into an opportunity for self-deprecation. I ask myself "am I not enough?" I spent my last academic year of my undergraduate as a leader on my campus, helping and guiding others. Now please believe me when I say, I am not trying to gas myself up by any means; I'm not entirely sure how to do that. Where I'm getting at is, to go from a high high, and be told "don't forget me when you're famous" on a daily basis, to sitting on my couch, watching Meghan McCain talk about her conservative pride every episode and shoving my face with empty calories, it's easy to think of yourself as less. But to add on constantly logging into your social media and seeing your "friends," living their best lives, can really do damage.
One day, I stopped myself and asked, "why can't I have a life like that? Why can't I have my dream full-time job? Why can't I live it up in Manhattan or LA? Why can't I be on a nice beach in Jamaica with a Piña Colada in my hand?" Then I realized something; Sociall media, while a great and useful tool if used appropriately, can be toxic and damaging if it's used inappropriately.
Right now, I'd like to explain a few reasons why this is. This may seem self-evident to some, but for those who are like me and need a little reminder, here it is:

1) The Iceberg Theory: People display the best of their lives on their social media; nothing more, nothing less. No one is going to post on their social media and say: "I love watching The View on my parents couch in my underwear!" No instead, they're going to talk about actually being on the actual show. No ones going to complain about their jobs being dreadful when they can pretend that their job is a life changing experience. It's an iceberg, the way they display their life on social media is only 10% of their truth. The rest, they keep below the surface, and we may never know what the other 90% of their life consist of. Not that I wish that the other 90% is negative, but reminding myself that not everything is what it seems, helps me grasp a better understanding of my truth and know that, my 10% is coming and when it does, it may even outweigh the other 90%.

2) Steve Jobs' Thoughts: Think back to the Steve Jobs quote, living vicariously through other people's life via social media, distracted me from living mine. I keep hearing, "you're young, you still have time to figure out your life." And yes, this idea is completely valid and makes total sense. But waking up everyday without a plan or urge to do something great lead me to a dark place. I'm an advocate for having a plan, but not too much of a plan. Some of the world's greatest accomplishments happened because they weren't planned. With that in mind, seeing other's life played out on social media, though it may only be 10% of it, distracted me from my planning and most importantly, living my life. Constantly checking my phone, distracted me from the things that are important such as; my family, my friends that matter, and chasing my dreams. When you live others life it distracts you from embracing and living your truth.

3) One way Friendships: Lastly, allowing social media to absorb the majority of my life led me to care for friendships that are a one way street. I found myself constantly reaching out to people who would sometimes respond, yes, but not initiate the conversation. Due to the lack of face-to-face human interaction, we tend to take our friendships for granted. While social media is not the complete or direct cause of this, it does play a role. Let's face it, it's so much easier to take a selfie, swipe right a few times to choose a filter or geotag, and then send it to a friend as a response simply to fulfill a "streak". No caption, no venting, no questioning, no basic communication. This leads to the lack of relationship building, which then leads to a one way friendships and ultimately leads to the one friend constantly searching for a strong relationship via social media and being disappointed time and time again. At the end of it all the feeling of emptiness is the result.

Social Media is great, please don't get me wrong. In fact, it's how I'm able to talk to you, right now, whoever felt the need to listen to what I of all people have to say. I'm not a doctor, I don't have my phD in Social Media effects on the millennial and iGen generations, my views are purely based off of what I've experienced. Take from this what you want, but starting my cleanse of social media for at the least a week may help. After two weeks, I may find myself self-deprecating less. By the end of the summer, I may have a semi-clearer view of the direction of my life. Who knows, I surely do not. But what I am for sure of, it doesn't hurt to start finally living my life and not someone else's.

For those who've recently graduated from high school, undergraduate studies or even graduate studies, and you feel lost in this difficult journey we call life, know you're not the only one and that somehow, someway you'll find your path. Social media is definitely a useful tool in finding said path, but looking for too much of it it via social media can be toxic.
If you don't take anything away from what I say, remember to live your life. Live it for you, and not for likes, live your truth and not just 10% of it, and live it for those who are willing to live it with you not without. Again, this may seem self-evident, but a reminder every once in a while keeps us from forgetting who we are.