So I know that this sounds very older generation of me, but I promise I'm not trying to parent or grandparent in any kind of way during this. I only wish to share some of the enlightenment that I was given during a sociology class this past week. First I feel like I should explain how we started talking about social media and why it impacted me in the way that it did. We started down this long and winding road by examining how the things that we are involved with (ie. family, friends, organizations, school, relationship, etc.) shapes who we are as a person; however now it's not just the "real-world" things that we're involved in that contribute to who we are as a person, it's also our lives on the internet that make us who we are. But there's also a question to be asked here: who does social media make us into?

On one hand social media is a resource that was created to connect people further than the internet, whether its between family or extended family, friends, or even people from the past that you're just not in touch with anymore. With all that being said, that's not how social media is used by most people anymore. Sure, people "keep in touch" through social media, but they also use social media as a way to show off what they're doing with their lives (more to come on that later) or to "keep in touch" with people that they should've let go.

Too often social media breeds competition and comparison. To prove my point I know that you care about how many likes you get on your Instagram pictures or retweets that you get on Twitter. You might even celebrate when you get a new personal best or that may be the tweet that you pin to show other people that you're funny or well liked or whatever your deal is. You can also think about how someone's social media profile impacted how you thought about that person: whether they were unatainably attractive and that made you feel bad about yourself or you saw a cute couple that was "couple goals" and that made you question your relationship. The fact of the matter is this: no one is going to share the bad things on social media. No one is going to post their naked face when they're experiencing a bad breakout, the troubles that they're going through with school or relationships or whatever else their struggle may be.

As someone who posts on social media we only share the good things in our lives or the good selfies-we only show people the side of us that we want to be. The attractive, popular person that goes to events and is doing well in school/work/life. And as someone viewing people's profile on social media that gives off a false advertisement of ourselves. We think that this person has their life together and is happy-go-lucky all the time (unless you're on Twitter lol) and then we start to feel bad about ourselves because we have our own struggles as an individual. Right now I want to say this: everyone has struggles that they go through and everyone has bad days, and no one is an exact reflection of who they show on social media.

In the end, what is gained? Getting likes or retweets or whatever else only gives you a short time high. It puts you in an endless cycle of needing a stranger's approval to feel good about yourself or to gain self worth, when in reality these people are scrolling through their newsfeed and randomly liking pictures without really caring about what you post. This becomes a drug to us- we get a fix when people like our pictures that puts us in a deeper hole when we compare ourselves to someone else's social media persona.

While I know this seems hypocritical because here I am using social media platforms to trash talk social media, I should probably come off of the ledge to say that I'll still continue to use social media, especially as a distraction from all of the homework I have to do, but from a different perspective. I don't have to compare myself to anyone else's social media or even my own social media, because that's not all I am or have to offer and it's not all that anyone else is either.

We all have more to offer than the person that we put on the screen.