How many likes does it take to be perfect? How many followers must we have to be famous or important? More importantly, how much longer are we going to let social media control our lives? We each tell ourselves we are on it to share; as a generation, we tell ourselves we do not do it for the favorites but rather we do it to keep friends and family updated. However, I find that quite funny because if we aren’t looking for the compliments or attraction, why do we have our number of followers memorized?
How many of those 500 friends on Facebook could tell you where you grew up or even your birthday without looking at your page? Yes, there are exceptions. The few brave souls that don’t do it for the likes (and congrats to those who do), but even I have fallen victim to the tumbling down of social interaction and have noticed it’s a problem much greater than that of a few people. We have shrunk our lives down to 3x3 squares and 140 characters and for what? A few likes and a chance to be “beautiful,” “cute,” or even just “popular.” Teens nowadays struggle to find balance in their lives and complain that high school and college expect 'all too much from us' and could not truly expect such high honors. Well, imagine the grades, internships, and success we could find if we put the time spent fixing filters or tapping through Snapchat stories into something worthwhile. The Washington Post studied this timing dilemma and came to the result that “teens are spending more than one-third of their days using media such as online video or music — nearly nine hours on average, according to a new study from the family technology education non-profit group, Common Sense Media. For tweens, those between the ages of 8 and 12, the average is nearly six hours per day.” How can a society so proud and sure of themselves live 1/3 their lives behind a screen? This could not be the same society that 10 years ago would wake up to blue jays tweeting instead of the Tweeting of boys and girls around the world. My birthday passed last week, and of course, there are millions of things I could wish for while blowing out the candles. All I could, however, was wish to go back to the days when food wasn’t a display, it was a meal. To go back to when we knocked on each other’s doors, complimented each other face to face, and most of all, go back to when we picked apples off of trees and not from a big white store.
I do not in any way accuse you all of being a part of this dilemma and I know sharing and posting online is not a crime; all I ask is to not allow the screenshots and retweets to control your life. Beauty and power come from confidence and anyone who owns who they are, challenges the common thread, and is proud, regardless of the number of likes on their most recent posts. Is a person more “perfect” than the one with 10,000 likes and no character or personality. I know one article by me will not change the global dilemma, but maybe little by little we can rediscover the world of reality and say goodbye to social media fallacy.
