Social media has become a part of everyone’s lives. Maybe you just have a Facebook account or different accounts across all platforms. Either way, we’re all sharing, liking, posting, and commenting daily. Yes, these platforms were made so that we could stay connected with one another. You can chat with your best friend who moved away five years ago or send memes to your brother who is just in the other room. But sometimes social media just gets too much.
We have been given platforms to speak freely about how we feel or post about something immediately without much effort. The downfall? We just end up ranting to an audience who might just be there to watch and not engage with you. It is good to get these feelings out but it might be even better to talk to someone about it and get advice or support rather than just rambling to your 1,000 Facebook friends.
It can get toxic. I am sure we’ve all seen threads with nothing but hate. Yes, everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion but sometimes it gets to a point where they don’t even think first. And I am guilty of this. These platforms make it so easy for you to say whatever you want with little to no consequence. Sure, people can respond but you’re still just a faceless person whose username is f*cboi2017. F*cboi2017 will go back and forth with people responding to his posts but it just leads to more miscommunication.
Speaking from experience, going through a social media detox once in a while can work wonders. Don’t get me wrong, I post photos on Instagram and rant on Twitter but I always try to take a step back and have actual human interaction. It is so easy to get sucked in by other people’s lives that we forget to take care of our own. We start to care too much about that trip our high school batch mate is on instead of trying to make our own memories. We “like” photos of our friends with their families but do you make time to spend with your own?
And, like anyone, I am insecure about a lot of things. When I feel like things in my life aren’t going great and I see other people who have their sh*t together I start to ask myself “Why?” Why I’m not happy at that given moment or what I’m doing wrong. Times like this I take a break from social media. Not because I’m jealous but because what I need in that moment to fix everything isn’t on my smart phone. I take time for myself to think and reflect. The person people see on my Instagram isn’t the real me that’s just a snippet of who I am. And as much as I enjoy sharing parts of my life through the screens on your phones, there are some I would like to keep for myself.
So, take advantage of what social media can do for you but always remember that sometimes it’s nice to have physical company, not just the ones on your timelines and feeds.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay
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