Growing up in a technologically advanced generation, I have constantly been bombarded with social media. Ever since I discovered the Internet and all of its tools, I have had the ability to stay in contact with anyone that possesses a social media profile. From the time I was 10 years old, I have shared pictures, videos, and words with countless amounts of people all over the globe. I do not recall a time in my life in which I was not involved with others through online experiences. My friends have always encouraged the use of social media and like every other teenager, I never thought twice about creating an account somewhere online if my peers were using it. To be thoroughly involved with social media means you have created your own persona and enjoy staying active and knowledgeable about what is going on in the world.
As time goes on, the amount of social media seemingly increases. At first, a Facebook profile or a Myspace account were the only two ways to intimately stay in touch with those around me. Now, social media has exploded; new Websites and apps are being created daily – with their creators hoping each one strikes more interest than the previous. Social media allows us to indulge ourselves in the world around us, good and bad. We can see a happy couple and their wedding pictures, but if we scroll down to the next post, a haunting image of a brutal killing might be awaiting us.
I’ve used social media as much as anyone else has. I have had profiles on nearly every social media site that may come to mind. However, my life has come to feel more and more shallow each day I participate in a tweet or post. Social media has created a new world – one that makes me feel extremely remote. The way young people abuse social media only creates an unrealistic and absurd view of things, and it seems as if the more Facebook friends and Twitter followers an individual has, the less intimate and involved they become when they are away from their account(s).
When abusing social media, disconnect and isolation will greatly intensify. This creates a world of bias and untruthfulness – a world of deception. Our views and thoughts begin to shape and mold into what we are seeing most frequently online or what post receives the most “likes.” The complex mystery of the world is starting to become simplistic and unoriginal, the kind of place no one wants to live. For example, people have traveled thousands of miles in order to see the mind-boggling depths and rock formations of the Grand Canyon, but with the use of social media, this exceptional creation has become undervalued and unappreciated. Individuals now falsely believe that they can view the world from a computer screen and still receive the unique and genuine feelings they might have if they had actually traveled there.
Social media pulls us away from the intricacy of life. Much of life is not about our final destination – it is about the journey that occurs while striving for our goal. Making friends and starting relationships on social media dehumanizes our existence. We lose the ability to form our own ideas on the perfect relationship with someone because our minds are flooded with pictures and videos of what the definition of a flawless relationship is, and the standards set by social media are unachievable and unrealistic. Social media provides us with a faulty look at a well-lived marriage. A picture tells a thousand words but only to those who truly understand the meaning behind the photo. While looking at a picture of a pro-athlete, we see success, fortune, and fame. To the athlete in the photo, it may portray hard-work, determination, and grit. Social media deceives our minds because we do not understand what we see. Life is not meant to be lived with our eyes buried in a device but with our eyes fixed upon the moment we are living in.
To become fully connected with the world, we must stray away from how much we use social media. We can no longer experience solitude or live in the moment because we are afraid we may miss something on our timelines. While scrolling through Instagram photos, going outside to lie in a hammock to experience nature’s offerings becomes rather obsolete. Our ties with humanity are dwindling away because we are choosing to superficially live through social media instead of intimately becoming involved with the people and objects around us. There are many situations in which we do not focus our attention on the people in front of us, yet we gripe and complain about how boring and monotonous life seems.
Young people have chosen to become intensely involved with something so shallow and hollow,we have forgotten how to form a diverse and mosaic lifestyle. Instead of creating our own perfect lifestyles, we drown ourselves in self-pity and sorrow. No individual is flawless. Instead of accepting and being content with possessing faults, social media subliminally causes us to feel depressed and unwanted.While it seems like everyone else is out and about, we are stuck at home checking the most recent posts or uploads.
Our daily activities are filled and consumed by social media and even when we try to get away from the world, society seems to find its way to us. Going for a walk on a nice spring afternoon can soothe the mind and allow an individual to mentally absorb all that has previously happened and will happen; however, all of that restoration vanishes when the vibration from our phone is felt in our pocket. As that vibration pulls us in, we become hindered in our ability to enjoy the world around us. With our constant desire to be in touch with others, we lose the comfort of being internally peaceful with ourselves. Days seem extraordinarily frantic and pressed, but we are taking the simplistic, enjoyable moments of our day and filling them with sad and forlorn posts.
The way we present ourselves on social media is often very superficial. In physical conversation, genuine individuality is illuminated because there is no way to edit or delete spoken words or actions. Online, we are able to present ourselves the way we wish to be presented. We have the ability to whiten our teeth, carefully choose our words, and create an entirely different persona. Social media allows us to display ourselves as flawless and untroubled, but our imperfect moments are when we reveal our true selves. Each person has a unique personality, and personal differences are what creates an innovative, thriving society. The way many young people use social media does not encourage individuality – instead it wants us to conform to the populistic beliefs our culture has created.
I was once an avid user of social media, and I still loosely partake in it. The creation of social media was with good intentions – to distantly be able to connect, build relationships, and share ideas. However, the abuse social media receives does more harm than it does good. Being alone is now viewed as anachronistic, but solitude allows time for creativity and enhances our ability to empathize and connect with other human beings. Collectively, we have the ability to change the culture and promote individualism, but this revolution must begin from within ourselves. Social media has given us a large quantity of friends but dehumanized each of us.
Currently, many social media users view being alone as bad thing but in reality, if we do not learn to live in solitude we will feel like we are always lonely. An intimate connection will never be made if we continue to create our personalities through our social media accounts. Human interaction is the only way we can become our true selves and develop our minds; life is too short and too precious to live perfidiously behind a screen.
