Social Media has engulfed my generation, more than any other one previously. Probably because this is the first generation that has been impacted to this extent by it. My every movement has to do with clicking Facebook, Instagram, VSCO, and Twitter on my phone. This is scary, but I honestly cannot help it. If I intentionally put my phone down or away from me I continue to think about what I'm missing, and itching to scroll through some sort of social media.
This I know for myself isn't good. I constantly find myself comparing my life to other peoples Instagram lives and relationships. I want to do more things and go more places, to take pictures and post them to make other people think I'm having a fun time.
Could you imagine a world in which no one knew your every move. No one knew if you went to the beach with your boyfriend or not, or if you were in the city or having a lazy day at home. To me knowing everyones every move is normal. When I want to know where someone is, whose location I do not have on Find My Friends, I just look on snap maps. There is no more lying in todays society which i guess to an extent is a good thing but it can also get many people in trouble whether its work or relationship related. People can find out exactly where you are by just picking up their phone. And forget about if you post something, people will know what you're doing even quicker.
Its such an odd feeling, people can see right through everyones lives and nothing is kept secret. Even on Facebook adults post their every move, and 30 pictures of what they're kids did at the park today. I feel lucky that my whole childhood is in family pictures and memories, not plastered all over the internet. With that being said there will always be pros and cons to the internet and the intent of social media in the beginning, but as a society an a generation it is swallowing us whole.
Just as I am writing this I am taking breaks to pick up my phone and check Instagram stories and snapchat every few minutes. As scary as it is it is almost second nature, and a compulsion to see the new information streaming through the screen of my Iphone. its not only just visual stimulation, but cognitive as well. And a lot of the times what I see on Instagram, impact the way i think about my own life. If i see someone went to a "cool" spot it immediately goes on my bucket list, half the things i probably wont even ever check off but it always be in the back of my mind that that person went there and i didn't. Or if i see a relationship that is more photogenic than mine, or posts cuter pictures on VSCO than I have I feel down about it and doubt what I have in my life because I'm comparing it to someones fake life. I find myself falling into this trap time and time again, but I also am able to rationally distinguish between internet life and someones real life, which probably isn't as perfect as they make it out to seem.
It is scary for the teenagers in my generation who cannot as clearly distinguish this difference and may constantly compare their lives to fake online profiles. It will be interesting to see the outcome my generation has, and if the constant influx of social media will affect it in a negative way.
