Unless you've been living under a rock for the past 10 years, you might have noticed that this thing called social media has taken over lives. From the biggest events in our lives to the most mundane we feel compelled to share them with the world. Social media is becoming an increasingly important part of our society and culture. It's how we communicate, exchange information, and stay in touch with family and friends. More importantly though (at least for anyone with the unfortunate task of applying to jobs soon) knowing how to use social media is becoming increasingly important to future employers.
I've recently found myself reflecting on my own relationship with social media. Like most late 90's kids I grew up witnessing the evolution of social media. I remember when people still used MySpace instead of Facebook and when iPhones didn't exist much less apps like Instagram and Snapchat. Today, most people have an average of no less than five social media accounts. And you know each one serves a different purpose and has its own set of social rules and norms one has to follow. You obviously wouldn't post the same kind of picture to your Snap story as you would to you Instagram feed.
Despite the hours of entertainment to be had on social media, it can also be a source of anxiety for some people. I created my Facebook account around the seventh grade, which I'm sure you all remember is not a fun time for anyone. For me Facebook just confirmed that yes, everyone was hanging out without me, and yes their lives were so much more interesting than mine. I was always a shy kid and Facebook was just one more way for me to feel like an outsider. My adolescent anxieties have diminished over the years, but social media still often feels like an unnecessary social obligation to me. It's just one (or five) other things I have to keep track of in my life. Not to mention that FoMo is a very real thing and social media does not help that.
I think that more people are starting to get tired of society's increasing obsession with social media is growing. The pressures to stay connected and post updates periodically can be stressful for a lot of people. It seems like, recently, more of friends have decided to go off the grid. My sister deactivated her Facebook and Instagram, I had one friend give up Snapchat, and another who flat out deleted her Facebook account. What's interesting is my first reaction this was shock. You can do that? You can just stop social media? Apparently you can. And believe me I see the appeal of just deleting all my accounts and being done with it once and for all.
Completely un-plugging from social media doesn't seem like the right solution for me though. I like being connected and at least having the option to participate in social media. And in many ways it just seems like a necessary evil of the society we live in today. It's an invaluable tool for communicating with people and being able to use various social media platforms is becoming a necessary skill to be successful in the work force. I've finally realized that I can use social media without letting it control my life. I don't have to agonize over how many likes a post gets or what filter to use on Instagram because that just takes the fun out of it for me.
Social media is a huge part of our lives today and in most ways I think that it's a good thing, but when we let it run our lives I think that it can cause more harm than good.
