Alright, don’t look at me like that. We all knew it was coming. It’s 2018. Social Media is a big part, maybe majority, of our lives. And what comes with Social Media isn’t always happy and funny, either.
Let’s starts with the basics. Social Media is a bunch of websites and apps such as Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.
Many social media apps can be dangerous because they allow you to connect with potential “catfishers”. A catfish is a person online who isn’t who they say they are on social media. This isn’t only potentially dangerous, but can mess with your head. You can develop a friendship/relationship online with someone, real feelings and all, but they will be faking it the whole time. And once you find out they aren’t who they say they are; maybe when they refuse to video chat, send more pictures of themselves not already on their timeline, or meet-up; you’ll be crushed. You’ll feel so played and hurt and wonder why someone would do this to you of all people. All those feelings you had was for some fake person who never existed in the first place.
Social media can also make you feel isolated. This is due to the fact that you may see people engaging in conversation without you or see your friends out-and-about without you, without even inviting you. This concept is hard to understand for some. Some may think, “Well how can you feel isolated when there’s millions of people on social media?” That answer can be easy if you’ve felt this isolation before. “That’s why I feel isolated; There’s all these people on here and I’m stuck here scrolling and not talking to a single person or socializing.”
Apps such as Instagram where it’s main forte is pictures can really hurt your self-esteem as well. You may see someone who uses filters and makeup and maybe even photo-shop. But you may not see that; You might just see some beautiful person “way prettier than me”, “way curvier than me”, “way skinnier than me”, “way…….than me”. The list goes on and on for what you might think in your head. Seeing pictures of all these other people can really make you damage how you look at yourself, even though someone you think is prettier than you might think you’re prettier than them. It’s a self-esteem burner.
Things such as Twitter and Facebook where people post their opinions and rants and vent online can start a lot of drama, where some really mean people can say hurtful things. You can get into an argument with someone and all of a sudden all of their friends are arguing along with them, all after you. It can really get your heart beating and get your anxiety sky-rocketing, and get you bullied like there’s no tomorrow.
I’m not saying Social Media is bad, but you really do need to be careful when on it. Social Media can be a fun thing! But you have to use it properly; It can either be the most fun or the worst time of your life; It’s all in how you use it.
All The Feels 