Social media has spread like wildfire over the past decade. Who doesn’t remember struggling to pick the elite “Top Friend(s)” spot on MySpace? Now, you can show support for someone with a simple “like” and “share” on Facebook. You can connect with people from around the world with a hashtag or plan your entire wedding on a Pinterest board. Unfortunately with the social media craze, we are becoming more narcissistic people. Soon enough we will become the modern "Narcissus", staring at ourselves through an Instagram post for the rest of time.
In a recent survey, respondents were asked what they would do with their selfie if the picture only received ten likes in thirty minutes. Around 50 percent replied they would leave it up, while the other 50 percent would either like their picture themselves or even delete the picture (results via SurveyMonkey). In our age of technology, there are even apps for random people to like your pictures for the sole purpose of gaining more followers. (These apps are at an exceptional cost of $0.99, not including in-app purchases for upgrades.) Our generation is overly concerned with how we are perceived. From photo-shopping our looks to layering on filters, we catfish ourselves by editing how we look.
Not only are we obsessed with ourselves- we are obsessed with social media.
In the same survey, two of the questions were: "how often" and "how long are you on social media?" 70 percent of participants said they check social media 10 or more times a day. 57 percent said they spend a minimum of three hours on social media on a given day. This is too much time spent in cyberspace. Instead of making new memories, we post #ThrowBackThursdays. Relationships are not official until you are “FBO” (Facebook Official). If we don’t post about an event, it's as if the event never happened. And those pictures without enough likes? They are quickly thrown out the window.
“Hurry up, let’s take a picture!” - one of the most common phrases I hear at social functions. What is the point of even going to a flag football game if half the game isn’t posted on Snapchat? And what is a tailgate without twenty “candid” pictures, ten stack pictures, and one with “just the perfect lighting”?
Social media has even been proven to make users feel upset, inferior or isolated after logging on. When you find yourself with free time, instead of playing on social media for hours on end and ending up more upset than when you began, how about reading a book or going outside and taking a walk. Since our generation first got a computer, we have been told to get off the internet and go play outside. Now we should actually start listening.
Maybe in the future we won’t be so worried about likes, or maybe the next generation will find something else to obsess over. In the meantime, don’t forget to like my picture. #TeamFollowBack.
