It was my junior year in college and I was leaving a physics class when I stumbled across a mural that filled a chalk board. Someone had enough time to draw a man - who, I must say, reflected the great Albert Einstein very closely- with a phone in his hand. The picture was miraculously drawn to how the mans phone directed the mans thoughts. It made me wonder about how factual this statement was and how social media and the modern today shapes us.
In the blink of an eye, the world wide web can force positive and negative images of the world and ourselves. I'll zone in on the bad news before the good news.
Laurie Satran, a longtime blogger and social media manager at Starr Restaurants, says, "In the beginning, when I first became active on social media, I spent a lot of my time comparing myself and achievements to what I saw others doing. This stripped me of my confidence when I didn’t think I ‘measured up’. After making connections with the people I had compared myself to, and learning from them instead of comparing myself to them, I realized there is more support and empowerment in online communities than there is resistance and competition. The only person I now try to be better than everyday, is myself.”
Satran hit the nail on the head. The Drexel University alumna began focusing on other people's "lives", which is what social media does. This placed her in a dark place. The exposure of what people want you to think their life is about places a strain on our self image however, the good news is, we're human.
Lynne Jarman Johnson, the CMO of Consumer’s Credit Union says, " If you think people are not watching what you do, I’ll give you an example." Johnson tells us she was out with her husband when they ran into a man at the gas station. After small talk the man turns and gladly proclaims he knew Mrs. Johnson, when she had no idea who he was. The man finally confesses he doesn't actually know her, he just followed her on Facebook and felt like he knew her.
" This scenario reminded me that what you post stays with you forever.” , says the Chief Marketing Officer who birthrights the list of languages she speaks as " Human". Positively alarming right?
If Johnson were a ghastly person on the internet she would've had a reputation of being terrible and the stranger would most likely have tried to avoid her. Social media is the gateway to an unfathomable amount of beneficial opportunities.
Social media will affect different people in different ways, positive and/or negative. The precious art placed in Founders Hall made me crave control and the knowledge to distinguish if what I'm looking online is accurate, opinion, or something to merely write about. Is it natural that people like the Kardashians are the spiritual animal of a vast majority of United States teenager, or is it a just trend? Media is a roller coaster of reality and fantasy in many ways. I'm just asking, can you be conscious enough to know the difference?
