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As millennials, it's not hard to find someone or even a group of people who have had similar experiences and/or emotions. On a whim we make can make friends with people who we may never see in person because they live thousands of miles away. We can experience events that are normally exclusive to the rich and famous like NY Fashion Week or the White House Correspondents Dinner from the comfort of our own homes. Baby boomers can say what they will about our generation but the fact that we (in a way) hold our social lives in the palm of our hands is pretty scary, but also pretty amazing. However, there are certain aspects of our search to make connections in relating to each other that kind of worry me.
As most people my age on social media are aware, there are certain female-centric Twitter profiles that aren't actual people, but are really random 30-year-old guys who find or create tweets that are supposed to represent the masses of our generation. A few examples of these famed pages are "Dory," "Female Struggles" and "Typical Girl." While those pages get countless likes and retweets from thousands of users (including, who am I kidding, myself), I've seen too many troubling tweets on them that I feel kind of encourage some pretty questionable behavior.
This one, for example, seems funny at first because HEY! SPONGEBOB! but when you really think about it... IT'S NOT OK AT ALL! This tweet not-so-subtly implies that instigating a fight with your significant other is normal behavior, and it really shouldn't be. In my experience, if a guy doesn't make an effort to see you or even text you, he doesn't really want to BE with you. I'm not saying spontaneous/occasional fighting with your boyfriend or girlfriend is not normal, but if your relationship is not fulfilling enough as is that you have to create false anger to receive attention, you should probably reconsider whether or not it's a healthy one.
Ok, so I should start out by saying that this specific page also posts tweets or retweets about self-love and confidence, but that doesn't condone throwing in a negative tweet every now and then. I know that as women, or really whatever gender, we often feel insecure about our appearance or personality and have ready-made lists of attributes of ourselves that we would change if given the chance. However, that does not condone romanticizing those insecurities. Call me an idealist, but I feel like as people, we should relate to each other by lifting each other up, not perpetuating self-hatred.
If you think I'm nitpicking this whole situation, that is your right to do so, but the fact of the matter is that by spreading tweets like this, we are normalizing and even encouraging unhealthy relationships with one another and oneself. Although social media sites have "age restrictions", we'd be in serious denial if we believed that more impressionable preteens don't see our tweets on a day-to-day basis. If we don't more carefully think through what content we choose to share for OURSELVES (which we should anyway), we should do it to secure an improved outlook on life for our younger kiddos.
