I’m really tired of hearing ‘social media is bad’, ‘social media only shows people’s fake lives’, ‘social media is a waste of time’.
Social media is essential these days.
If anything, social media has made me the person I am today. It’s up to you if social media is affecting your mental health negatively or positively. It’s literally a global platform that anyone can use, which means that it can be dangerous. What you see and interact with is ultimately your decision, and the internet cannot be blamed for it.
Personally, I love social media, because it shows me the latest in regards to my interests. It’s also my news outlet when it comes to the weather, current events, politics, etc.
The way for it to leave a positive impact after shutting your phone off is by making sure that everything you see on your feed is catered to you. On instagram, for example, whatever you search for in the search bar and the tags and people you follow are what you will always see. Are you into gardening? Or sports? You can see that everyday. But, if you follow women who are tall, skinny and rich, you are telling yourself ‘let’s get jealous and feel bad about ourselves everyday’. Or, if one woman posts too many lovey-dovey photos with her partner, you’ll wonder where you went wrong in your relationship. It’s not social media to blame, but our decisions. The way I feel when I see someone with something that I like is “oh, cool! She has the latest in ~~~ and is going to show us how to use it” rather than “I wish I can have what she has. She’s just lucky to be rich”. It ALSO goes back to your mentality and how you’ve trained yourself to respond to every day occurrences.
It doesn’t matter whether the posts represent something that is real or fake. It doesn’t matter to me. Or you. I’m on the app to be entertained.
TikTok, for example, also shows you videos based on your searches. I follow cute, kawaii merchandise shops, because I love to see the process of how products are made and the aesthetic of the packaging (since I have a BTS sticker shop 😉 ). I WILL get random videos thrown in between, on the For You page, to see if other subjects will catch my attention. I never like these, because it’s always someone complaining, something raunchy or a prank.
Aside from the cute things that I follow, I’m always aware that the majority opinion on one app, such as Twitter, isn’t the only option. What I mean is that everyone might be pro-Biden on one app but want him impeached on another. When you go on one app for too long, you might start believing in what everyone is talking about in your blood and veins simply because of repetition. This is why it’s important to be aware of these things before you decide to indulge. You need to stand strong in your opinions and not be swayed every single time. Yes, we’re on social media to see what people think, and it’s ok for other’s opinions to influence ours, because if you’re stuck in a cave in reality, your opinion has less substance to back it.
I love posts and videos about racism, sexism, abuse, kidnapping and Karens. They have helped me become more open, cautious, understanding and prepared. Many sexist remarks would have passed me by if I hadn’t read or listened up on the topic online in the past few years. On sexism, in particular, I don’t completely believe in what I watch and see all the time either, because as women try to protect themselves from sexism, they end up being a little sexist towards men themselves. We have to be able to interpret everything in our own way as well. Social media is a bunch of opinions and not social studies class. Yes, there are a lot of professionals online, and therefore, I follow at least five or more accounts rather than one or two. Even they may say something slightly different when covering the same subject.
I follow a number of fashion and lifestyle influencers, but not too many, because these particular ones share my unique tastes. Seeing how they decorate their gorgeous homes gives me ideas. The way they dress allows me to be more specific in the shopping racks, even if there is a huge price difference. When I see someone who has something that I like, that I can’t necessarily get, I automatically want to be this influencer’s friend. I don’t get jealous. If you get jealous, it’s a matter of training yourself to enjoy what you see rather than always wonder how life would be if you had every little thing you tapped the heart on.
If you’re allowing your middle school daughter or son to be on social media, you need to train them on how to use it correctly and what the point of posting and viewing other posts is. You also need to go back from time to time to remind them that they’re on there to have fun, because like I mentioned before, random off-topic posts will arise and some people fall prey to these unnecessary ideas (says someone who spends her whole salary on Instagram shops haha).
Before I end this blog, I want to mention the prime benefit of social media that I have personally gained. I’m into dancing, and when I see fit dancers looking cool, it’s a huge motivation for me to lose weight. Skinny bloggers don’t have the same effect. On an opposite note, I also see people who have more weight on them and also those who are skinny but with blemishes and stretch marks. They wear whatever they want, and they preach that this is simply the body of humans, how it functions and that it doesn’t make sense to hate the skin you live in. My husband told me that I’ve gained some weight recently, and I responded “I’m not going to listen anyone about my weight, because this is the skinniest time of my life, and if I can’t enjoy it now, I’ll regret it later on (before having more kids haha)”. Before, I would have low-key freaked out about the change.
Any benefits you’ve acquired from social media? What’s your favorite app?
The Elegant Woman 