In this day and age, it's hard not to have social media. I mean, come on. Everything is online! We get our news from the Internet. We get our family updates and our 8 year old buddy's birthday party invitations via Facebook. Most of the laughs that equip my friend cliques come from Tweets. My recipes come from Pinterest, especially when I'm feeling super healthy. My best photos can be found on my Instagram, though a whole bunch of my cutest selfies live in the archives of my Snapchat memories.So, if there are so many good and fun things about Social Media, how could it possibly be silently killing us all? Easy. Everything has balance. When there is one good, there is one bad. One Yin, one Yang.
I know how extreme it sounds, calling Social Media the silent killer of my generation. But it's true. Through the social media platforms of today, there is so much love and light. But there is also so much hatred and so much evil and so so so much ugly. Which really freaking sucks! The Internet was such a cool idea. Really, big ole shout out to whoever decided that social media platforms would be a great way to stay in touch and see a different side of people's lives.
But also; what the heck, man?! It is hard enough with to struggle with a mental illness. But sure, go ahead. Add the comparison and toxicity of 7 billion people on top of it why don't you.
It's hard to explain, hard to actually find the words to describe how I feel on the topic. I'm addicted to social media. Yeah, I'll say it. Hello, my name's Grace and I'm a Social Media Addict. Shocker! A seventeen year old high school student with an Internet addiction. Never heard of that before.
Really though, it's hard. Everything is so much harder with the Internet and the access to social media.
There is more fighting over one's political views, and it's always much more hateful because people feel that they can get away with their slurs. There's more comparison. I am always wondering why my life isn't picture perfect and pristine like every Instagram model's. Does she even have bad hair days or bad mental days? Why don't I have a potted succulent?
Everything is at your fingertips. You can diagnose your bad days as a crippling clinical disorder. Why is there so much evil in the news? Obviously, young children are exposed to social media and the Internet far too early. We've seen children take their own lives too many times for this not to be an issue that we talk about. Where are they learning this? Why were they pushed so close to the edge, that suicide was the answer?
Social Media Anxiety is so real. The comparison is so real. There are so many comparisons every single day. In the beginning of my childhood, there was comparison. Of course there was, there always will be. But with the rise of the Internet came a new ideal for unreachable perfection. One that we all strive for. And, if you are a perfectionist like me, it's hard when you don't hit that level of unreachable perfection. Why can't my skin be edited to perfection? Why do I live in a small town in Missouri and not a penthouse in beautiful New York? Why am I not as happy as everyone on the Internet seems to be?
Am I doing something wrong? Is there a reason why my life doesn't look like theirs? Should I always be smiling, and is something wrong with me since I am not always grinning from ear to ear? Do people really not care about the songs that I post on my Instagram stories? Is my friendship really only measured in Snapchat Streaks?
So. To wrap it all up: I think Social Media is pretty cool. But I also think we all need a break once in a while. To breathe, and to remind us where we came from. We come from books and we come from family time. We come from fuji film and face to face communication. We come from imperfections. We all start from somewhere, and I feel for the ones that will grow up not knowing a time when there was no social media. To the few of us that were there in times of no Facebook Messenger and no Snapchat, look at us go! Ugh. It was so good. I already need a cleanse.
XOXO
