Social Media

Is social media good for us? Does it make us feel good for a little while to pass the time, to escape and to stop focusing on the bigger things? It is just a distraction from reality. I think everyone could agree it does for a lot of people. I have always had a love/hate relationship with it but essentially it's what you make of it. Meaning if it is a positive thing or not.

There are many good things that come out of social media: socialising, sharing what you love, finding new places and seeing new things. I love a good scroll through Tik Tok looking at new recipes, seeing what my loved ones are doing and having a nosy. Everything is there literally at your fingertips and you don't even have to think about it because it is already chosen out to suit what you'll enjoy. It creates doors to things you didn't know about and learn about things. You can find parts that you are passionate about and find a fire that you probably never realised you had. The list could go on.

But there comes a price. Social media opens you up to criticisms and judgments which quite frankly are not needed and anything negative to say is not worth saying. That never stops those keyboard warriors though does it? Hiding behind a screen slowly taking away people's perception of their lives and who they are picking apart them is soul destroying. The constant comparison of how you think your life should look instead of what really matters is how it feels. It creates a sense of uneasiness. People can create a whole life out there that is far from the truth when in reality they are just sitting around with their own problems. It puts pressure on yourself to be a certain type of person that isn't really who you are and why do we do this? We want validation from others through a screen from people we don't even know or know nothing about.

No one is ever going to show the bad parts of their life or the imperfections that come with being real. We become brainwashed and normalise perfection every step of the way, which is unrealistic.  

From growing up in the social media era it was always hard to find balance because you want to build this idea up of who you are and want to be to everyone. It's not weird to not be interested in what everyone is doing and want to share your life there either, it's a place for whatever you want to make it and if it saves you from falling into bad habits why not feel that way? Seeing the good within it and knowing your own boundaries helps create balance of how much screen time is for yourself. We get lost in this other world that we forget there's a perfect one right in front of us that is raw and real where everyone deals with the same rubbish instead of making everything look fabulous.

Most recently as I have grown up, I go on Instagram etc and feel good because I have spoken to those friends or found inspiration or some funny videos where before I was countlessly scrolling driving myself insane comparing myself to others on how they look or wondering maybe if I should be doing what they are. Always ask yourself if you are happy with your life: most people would say yes and not change it, so why do you think you want something different because you saw a photo from someone who is irrelevant to your everyday life. 

Social media can be the best and worst place but remember to use it how you please to suit you not how you feel like it should. Remember it isn’t a hundred per cent real!