Social media used to be something as simple as connecting with friends. You would upload a photo or a quick word for fun and that was it. There wasn’t so many expectations and rules that needed to be followed. Now a days, we use social media as a way to feel whole and completed. People feel validated by the number of likes they receive on a picture, or let the comments they receive influence their mood. With hundreds of social media sites, it can be so easy to become wrapped up in things that aren’t important. On Instagram we upload photos proving to our followers that we have friends, we go out and we have a perfect life according to a picture. On twitter we subtweet others, acting bigger than we really are. We will “lurk” as a way to obtain viable information about others, pretending that twitter always holds the answers we are looking for.
But why do we pretend social media is all real? That people are always who they claim to be? People always have monsters underneath that they don’t show online. Because social media is a place to show off what you have, not what you lack. The picture perfect couple you love to see on social media, is never as perfect as they seem. That beautiful happy family, isn’t as happy as they look. That pretty smiling girl, is smiling for a photo, not always because she wants to. And we are all guilty of it. We post and share to show the world that we have at all, even when we don't. We allow social media to define our relationships by modeling them off of what we see. We buy the things we see on social media, we share what and post what we think will get the most likes, and it has become a crutch, allowing us not to fully live our own lives. However, social media is inevitable. It becomes almost impossible to stay away from because of the things it can provide, like connections, networking and information.
The reason I dislike social media is because we use it as a way to replace real face to face contact. When you have real connections with people, and your life is really the way you want it to be, you won’t feel the need to post it for everyone to see. You will just appreciate what you have and never want to let it go. My boyfriend and I don't excessively use social media, and it is the strongest relationship I've ever had with another person. A lack of social media isn't the only reason, however, it does help more than you think. Once you disconnect, you feel much more safe and happy due to not having the pressure to pleasing the world around you.
