Social Media: we all use it for one reason or the other, whether it is to look for friends, missed connections or to contact long-lost families. We all seem to be on it. You have many different platforms like Instagram, Facebook and, my favorite, Twitter, to share whatever you are thinking or doing at any given time of the day. For a lot of us, it is fun to get on the internet, share pictures and brag about our days and lives, while for others, it is a place to complain about life and to be reminded of how miserable their life is. That may sound extreme but we all know that it is true. Many people use social media for the wrong reasons. Let us touch on some of the good and the bad, but mostly the bad because that is what I am shooting for with this article — to get people, and even myself, off of the computer and into the world and sharing private moments with loved ones that everyone does not need to know about.

Let us start with the good: the jokes, memes and happy posts, such as the “I had a baby” posts, that people love to see. Seeing a baby will almost brighten up anyone’s day, or someone who is getting married can brag or gloat about the wedding, depending on who is reading the post, really. Something that I have started to notice more is the “Top List” for where you are from, went to school, or pretty much anything else you could imagine. This is not my cup of tea, but it does make you feel happy to see so many people that you can possibly relate to and even make a new friend out of something like that.

That was all for the good, so let us starting touching on all the reasons that we should not be using social media. As I said to start off with, some people seem to use it to show off their lives. That is a good thing. Yes, you have accomplished many things: you’re rich, live on the ocean and run your own company. Life is good. Here is the thing: does anyone really care? Really, does anyone care what anyone is doing with their life? If you are like me and you are friends with someone, you want to know if they are alive and healthy, not to have them throw all that they do in your face. Yes, I do brag about my hiking trips and concerts that I and my fiancé go to, but that is either free or really cheap. I do not act like I have money because, well, I do not. Don’t brag, be humble and let people see the good that you do, but do not be a “Johnny Football” and throw it in everyone’s face.

Now let's go to the people who have to comment on everything that you do, everything that you post, and, if they could, probably follow you around just so they could post about it. I will block or delete someone in a heartbeat that comments, good or bad, on everything that I do. When I say anyone, I do mean I blocked my own mother for a short amount of time and asked her to stop writing on everything that I did. Yes, these people may care about you, and I will comment every once and a while, but I do not need people constantly telling me what they think. I know what you are saying, “Cody, it is a place to share and if you share people are going to comment.” That may be true, but everything that I post does not warrant the same person leaving a comment every time, good or bad.

Next up, the people who talk trash about others online. I understand high school boys and girls calling each other out — that happened even when I was in high school and college. But I am a firm believer in saying something to someone’s face, none of this “throwing shade” via social media. The bigger problem other than just having beef are people who like to put down other people's religion, race or sexual orientation. This is something I do not understand at all. The sad part is, I am still friends with people from back where I was born and raised who are still closed-minded and should probably not have access to a computer. What scares me most is the people, who I know are educated, have a degree and sometimes even a master's or higher that are still so closed-minded that they still put down people for all of the things I listed above. What gives anyone the right to talk down to anyone for their race, religion or sexual orientation at any point? And what makes it worse to me is that you are doing it indirectly and putting down a lot of people when you post it to social media, showing how ignorant you are, and proving why people should have never been introduced to social media.

Finally, let us look at the “trolls.” Trolls are people who are constantly roaming the internet for anything that they can comment on in a very negative way most of the time. The most recent example of this is when people were talking negatively about Steph Curry’s child on Twitter when she was crying, saying that LeBron James' baby was better to look at anyway. Really, is that something you need to say? No, it is not, and you now look like an idiot. Trolls tend to be put in their place every once in a while, but what kind of a life do you have to sit and look for opportunities to upset people? That is just a low-life person who, as I said before, should not be on the internet. I know this is just my opinion, and I can honestly say I have trolled on people before, but that was to tell someone something that they were wrong about something that they saw in a football game, not to tell them how dumb they were and that they need to go die — huge difference, right?

Needless to say, social media is running the world, and I do not think it is hard to argue that point. Cyber bullying is a huge thing nowadays along with all the other stuff that I touched on. Instead of living through a computer, let's live our lives to the fullest and not worry about having to impress everyone or trying to upset people as we go on with our lives. Like I said, I need to listen to everything I said as well, but let us put the phones down, get outside, not take any pictures and enjoy that time with loved ones and friends and share something that only you will remember, and do not let anyone else share in that. Let us live through our eyes and not through the eyes of others, let us not judge others, and let us not give a darn what people think about us. This is just a long rant from me, but let's be honest — a lot of hate and hostility can come from a computer or phone, so let's shut them off from time to time and just be happy. Rant over.