It's 2019. We live our lives online. We build friendships out of comments and likes and direct messages. We post our personalities across apps and show people who we are in the captions. We update Facebook once a month with a photo dump of what we've been up to. We spend so much money on presets to color coordinate our own profiles to have people think higher of who we are when they stalk us. We base our impressions of people, sororities, schools, etc. based on what type of theme their pictures take on.
After high school and one year of college, I follow a lot of people. I follow the girl who sat by me in homeroom that I never talked to, I followed the older "popular kids", I followed campers from Glisson, I followed just about every girl in college that I met in a bathroom.
At this point in my life, I don't care. I was following so many people whose posts would just make me angry. I kept up with people who didn't care about me at all. I liked dozens of photos of people who don't even know my name or remember who I was or how I started following them. It didn't add to my life. It didn't make me feel better. It didn't bring me joy. That's a problem, and it isn't worth dealing with to keep up with any societal norm or to avoid being petty. If someone's posts drive you nuts, just unfollow them. Don't allow yourself to get annoyed or angry over someone who doesn't even have to be following.
After I realized this, I unfollowed a lot of negative people. I got happier. I realized that when I wasn't surrounding myself and what I see online with people who don't make me happy, I became more joyful.
I'm not saying block half your high school and every person you followed the moment you met them. I'm saying focus a little more energy on what you're crowding your phone with and how it affects how you feel.
I follow a lot of people I don't know that well. But I get happy to see them doing well. It makes my day when I see campers posting pictures from that holy dirt in Dahlonega. I love following the random girl from the bathroom to see her get accepted to law school or get the guy she raved to a stranger about at 1 a.m. I like seeing what people do with their lives and how they spend it. It's important to maintain relationships and good feelings even with people you barely know. It's worth having to second guess how you know them to stay updated on how the random boy you met in the elevator is doing. When you stay following these people, it's easier to make conversations in real life. Social media allows us to connect so that we can be closer outside of it.
My point is this; Think about what you fill your surroundings with: the job, your coworkers, your classes, your friend group, who you follow, who you keep up with. These impact how you feel and how you build and grow relationships with others and develop yourself. Don't feel like you have to keep up with the bitch from high school who made you feel like shit. Don't feel like you have to unfollow the friend you made in the pasta line as soon as they get their alfredo. Be aware. Be cautious. And make the choices on how what you fill your life with affects the quality of it.