Don't get me wrong, I love social media as much as the next person. As a blogger it's a great way to connect and network with other bloggers, authors and publicists, and as a person it's a great way to keep in touch with friends and family. But I feel like our generation is becoming more and more dependent on social media, to the point where the number of likes we get dictates how we see ourselves.
I recently went on vacation with a couple of family friends and noticed this rising dependence on social media, particularly Instagram. These middle schoolers and high schoolers spent so much of their time thinking of poses and captions, even missing out on the fun of water handball to go take pictures specifically for Instagram on the beach.
These kids have a formula. They know exactly what types of pictures people like and exactly what time is best for "maximizing likes." When social media is used to boost self-esteem it's not a problem, but when it begins to do the opposite it starts becoming a concern. Ideally social media is a platform for connecting, gives us a way to talk to people we normally wouldn't be able to. But it also gives us a better way to compare one another.
One hundred likes versus fifty likes has absolutely no significance. It doesn't mean you're prettier or more popular, because let's be real neither of those words has any meaning. Likes are a result of luck and chance; that someone happened to scroll past your picture and pushed a button.
With all this technology, it's so easy to blur the lines between digital and real. It's a growing side effect of all these wonderful platforms and a problem I think needs to be addressed.
But maybe I'm the only person who thinks this is a problem? What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments below!
I recently went on vacation with a couple of family friends and noticed this rising dependence on social media, particularly Instagram. These middle schoolers and high schoolers spent so much of their time thinking of poses and captions, even missing out on the fun of water handball to go take pictures specifically for Instagram on the beach.
These kids have a formula. They know exactly what types of pictures people like and exactly what time is best for "maximizing likes." When social media is used to boost self-esteem it's not a problem, but when it begins to do the opposite it starts becoming a concern. Ideally social media is a platform for connecting, gives us a way to talk to people we normally wouldn't be able to. But it also gives us a better way to compare one another.
One hundred likes versus fifty likes has absolutely no significance. It doesn't mean you're prettier or more popular, because let's be real neither of those words has any meaning. Likes are a result of luck and chance; that someone happened to scroll past your picture and pushed a button.
With all this technology, it's so easy to blur the lines between digital and real. It's a growing side effect of all these wonderful platforms and a problem I think needs to be addressed.
But maybe I'm the only person who thinks this is a problem? What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments below!
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