Social media - friend or foe?
I can remember my first social media platform quite vividly, like most people of my age it was a MySpace page, swiftly followed by a Bebo account - I'm not ashamed.
I actually really enjoyed Myspace and I met a lot of my friends and one of my ex-boyfriends on it, I'm not sure if the latter was good or bad? (Actually, for the most part, it was a good relationship so it's fine)
But without these platforms, I think my life would have been very different and even more reclusive that it already was!
However, now, social media has been flipped upside down with the introduction of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Vine etc. Its main purpose is no longer to keep in touch with friends (it is still my main purpose) but more a place where you can boast about your holidays, post pictures of yourself half naked in the hope you gain over 100 likes or send a 'dick pic' hoping that the recipient will see you as suitable boyfriend material.
One of my pet hates is centred around Instagram, personally, I love taking photos, and I love looking at people's photos, but my feed is full of half naked women with unobtainable bodies and pictures of food that obviously don't look like the pictures in real life. Society nowadays thrives for the acceptance of others, their goal is to see how many likes they can get on a picture and if it isn't enough their self-worth drastically decreases. No. Stop it. Most of these photos are edited until the original picture is no longer recognisable.
A lot of people have found fame through social media, whether that's blogging stars like 'Zoella' or musicians such as Justin Bieber their talent has been 'found' online. Look, for these people, it is certainly a positive experience, however, a lot of these 'bloggers' just promote products and companies by attending events and using products that have been sent to them for free, the number of followers they have will directly correlate to how much free stuff they get, what a great world we live in... Some of them are scraping the barrel with the word 'talent' and it is so frustrating to think that people work for years at their craft and get no recognition because they don't have enough people 'following' them. *rant over for now*
Anyway, after applying for a few jobs yesterday I noticed that some of them ask for your social media accounts to see what you 'social presence' is like, in other words, to see how many friends you actually have. Well, believe it or not, I like to have people on my accounts that I am ACTUALLY friends with, not a social media following of a thousand people that I have never spoken to. But now, it seems to be 'part of the job' to have this and talent, dedication and education seem to have been cast aside. So, you're basically saying I shouldn't have taken part in a postgraduate degree but instead I should have sat at my computer trying to gain 'followers'? Fantastic.
What I am trying to say is there are good and bad aspects to any social media platform, they allow us to keep in touch with friends and organise events but on the other hand too much of it can really affect our mental health, and we start to question why our lives aren't moving forward like other peoples - Should I be married by now? Should I have a stable job? etc.
Well, here is the thing, everyone is different and there are thousands of people that are probably in the same situation as you but nobody is going to advertise the fact they 'just went to sign on' or the fact they are sitting around all day watching episode after episode of friends even though they've seen it a million times.
I like positivity as much as the next person, but just realise that the majority of the time life is a mountain we need to climb and every step you take doesn't have to be a big one it might not move your career forward a hundred paces, we go back, we go forward, we stay in the same place...it isn't a race.
I just want the negative aspects of social media to be surpressed by the positives and if not I won't be staying on them for much longer.
What are your thoughts on social media?
I actually really enjoyed Myspace and I met a lot of my friends and one of my ex-boyfriends on it, I'm not sure if the latter was good or bad? (Actually, for the most part, it was a good relationship so it's fine)
But without these platforms, I think my life would have been very different and even more reclusive that it already was!
However, now, social media has been flipped upside down with the introduction of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Vine etc. Its main purpose is no longer to keep in touch with friends (it is still my main purpose) but more a place where you can boast about your holidays, post pictures of yourself half naked in the hope you gain over 100 likes or send a 'dick pic' hoping that the recipient will see you as suitable boyfriend material.
One of my pet hates is centred around Instagram, personally, I love taking photos, and I love looking at people's photos, but my feed is full of half naked women with unobtainable bodies and pictures of food that obviously don't look like the pictures in real life. Society nowadays thrives for the acceptance of others, their goal is to see how many likes they can get on a picture and if it isn't enough their self-worth drastically decreases. No. Stop it. Most of these photos are edited until the original picture is no longer recognisable.
A lot of people have found fame through social media, whether that's blogging stars like 'Zoella' or musicians such as Justin Bieber their talent has been 'found' online. Look, for these people, it is certainly a positive experience, however, a lot of these 'bloggers' just promote products and companies by attending events and using products that have been sent to them for free, the number of followers they have will directly correlate to how much free stuff they get, what a great world we live in... Some of them are scraping the barrel with the word 'talent' and it is so frustrating to think that people work for years at their craft and get no recognition because they don't have enough people 'following' them. *rant over for now*
Anyway, after applying for a few jobs yesterday I noticed that some of them ask for your social media accounts to see what you 'social presence' is like, in other words, to see how many friends you actually have. Well, believe it or not, I like to have people on my accounts that I am ACTUALLY friends with, not a social media following of a thousand people that I have never spoken to. But now, it seems to be 'part of the job' to have this and talent, dedication and education seem to have been cast aside. So, you're basically saying I shouldn't have taken part in a postgraduate degree but instead I should have sat at my computer trying to gain 'followers'? Fantastic.
What I am trying to say is there are good and bad aspects to any social media platform, they allow us to keep in touch with friends and organise events but on the other hand too much of it can really affect our mental health, and we start to question why our lives aren't moving forward like other peoples - Should I be married by now? Should I have a stable job? etc.
Well, here is the thing, everyone is different and there are thousands of people that are probably in the same situation as you but nobody is going to advertise the fact they 'just went to sign on' or the fact they are sitting around all day watching episode after episode of friends even though they've seen it a million times.
I like positivity as much as the next person, but just realise that the majority of the time life is a mountain we need to climb and every step you take doesn't have to be a big one it might not move your career forward a hundred paces, we go back, we go forward, we stay in the same place...it isn't a race.
I just want the negative aspects of social media to be surpressed by the positives and if not I won't be staying on them for much longer.
What are your thoughts on social media?
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