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Unsocial Media


Unsocial Media

I did the unthinkable today. The thing that I never thought I would do. I did a thing that will, while excluding the outside world, will make me feel more involved in it. I logged out of my Facebook account. I lost what felt like one hundred pounds within a matter of seconds. What started out as a place that was meant to make us feel less alone, has only alienated us from one another. The people that are standing in front us, the people that we share our dinner with, and the people that we share our bed with have taken a back seat to things that we can’t even touch. And we can’t get enough. We crave the attention and we have stumbled upon a need to make ourselves appear perfect in everyone else’s eyes. Everyone else’s except for our own. We can’t even have a nice dinner at a restaurant without checking in to see what our friends on social media are doing. We also want to be the person who is doing it better than they are, eating at a better restaurant than they are, and just simply having a much better time doing it. Why do we need this added stress? We dress up to the nines with perfect makeup so that we can get that one perfect photo to show everyone how beautiful we are. We need to get that perfect profile picture. The truth is, my dear Facebook friends, is that your filtered photo makes us wonder why we don’t look that beautiful when we wake up in the morning. There must be something wrong with the rest of us, right? You’re seemingly happy, exciting, and beautiful life has made my life seem less fulfilling at times and your sadness has sometimes made me feel that my life is a little better.   We all have flaws but those are things that we don’t dare share on social media. No, only our best selves, our best side, and the best parts of our life. So how can something like social media make us feel connected? It is a disconnect that can destroy us. If we put the same amount of concentration on the people that are standing in front of us and truly living in our experiences, we can and will gain the ultimate connection. We cannot compete with a filter and a Facebook page full of amazing experiences. If we could log on and see the bad along with the good in the life of someone else, we would choose to stick with our own.


Kristen Hamilton

Comments

  1. Elephant's ChildOctober 31, 2019 at 11:37 PM

    I have not joined FB.
    This post reminds me (again) why not.
    I am hard enough on myself without comparisons. Artificial comparisons at that.

    ReplyDelete

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