Social media, a place where you can become anything you've ever wanted to be; go viral, become famous or even rich. Social media, a place where you can become anybody even if that's not even who you are. It gives people a platform, a voice, an identity, control. You have the power to alter and edit your photos and videos and look completely different than how you do in person. Social media... a blessing and a curse.
Social media has quickly become a place where people live an alternate reality and most time also have an alter ego. People have rushed to the internet to bully, belittle, and discourage others. It has become easier to judge and compare. Social media is a huge issue affecting the young people in our society. To begin with, on social media for the most part, people do not show their struggles, but only glorify the luxury in their life. The problem with this is a lot of young kids in their pre-teens and teens are looking up to the woman and men online who are showing off their luxurious items, bodies, and lifestyles without even realizing what these people are doing behind the scenes to live this life. A lot of young kids are growing up with insane pressure to have these things at a very young age and then not realizing the type of work it took to their "idols" to get there. It's not okay. Kids in my opinion are being over exposed to a lot of things that they should not be seeing. They're being desensitize and encouraged to live a fast lifestyle. That's another problem; with social media, everybody wants to be an influencer, and have income from social media, which is possible, but we still need people with careers such as doctors, lawyers, nurses, firefighters, teachers, social workers etc. We need these careers and people in these job fields to survive. Most now believe that if we have a "normal" job we are failing in life. This is not true. Far from the truth.
I also believe that a lot of people on the internet use it as an escape. They use it to project their insecurities and their failures. However, they do not transmute it in a positive way. The fact that people come on social media and display only their achievements has also given them the power to completely block out their failures to the world. Making them perfect beings. Making them feel superior to others. Living a lie, or faking it till you make it. Imagine if we used our platforms to share our struggles and show the world there's at least one person out there that feels like you....Social media has caused people to become cruel, disrespectful, judgmental, and given a sense of power and control they do not have in real life. We see people "cancel" other people, torment, belittle, and disrespect others. We see people tear others down daily. This is troubling. It is very clear to me when someone online is projecting from a place of hurt, insecurities and failures; however not everybody can see this. What worries me about this is people's mental health.
Studies have shown that social media through likes and comments has mimicked the human need for human interaction and releases dopamine into your system when you receive these likes and comments. This is worrisome because this is where we see an increase in depression and mental health issues when people do not receive the online attention they are hoping for because they need that quick dopamine release. They've become addicted without realizing it. Imagine not getting the attention/chemical release you're looking for on a post, then having 100's of people tear you down for whatever picture, comment, tweet, or snap you shared. It is in my opinion a bigger battle than intrusive thoughts. Feeling like you need to prove yourself to all of these people that are now attacking you and against you. Have you noticed that lately not only you but everyone is always "tired"? That's because humans are spending more time on social media and these apps and they are not spending time in the real world, time in the sunlight, or experiencing real life human interactions. We're lacking vitamins. We're lacking reality.
I know this isn't a blog post like the others...... it is different. However, my goal here is to shed light on social media and remind everyone that they are a person far different than their social media persona. Remind everyone that how you feel inside affects every single thing around you; your relationships, your job, your school, the energy you put out into the world is always returned to you ten fold. Put out good energy, check yourself when you're projecting negativity, guilt, anger, and shame. Stop yourself from bullying, judging, and putting others down online. Step outside of the negative mindset and the constant pressure you put on yourself to be perfect by the social media standard. Live in the present. Be proud of yourself. Remember, you sleep better when you're proud of what you did and who you are.
Sending love to anyone who needs it.... it feels good to be back posting.