Dear 10 year old Sarah…
Dear 10 year old Sarah,
It is 2008, “Love Story” is playing on your iPod when you should be getting ready for soccer practice — please just enjoy being a kid. Don’t worry about Facebook right now, put the phone away and go outside, because these moments in your childhood are precious and you will look back on cherished memories, not what was trending online.
You will learn that the word “friend” has a whole new meaning online.
Realize who your real friends are verses your “Facebook friends”. There will be over a thousand people on your friends list, but offline, only a handful of them would be there for you in a time of need. There will be those who act as your shoulder to cry on, and those who will sympathize with a digital *sad react* only. Try to prepare yourself to know who is authentic, and hold those people near and dear to you. Remember to make time offline to show them they are appreciated. Messenger is fun, but nothing beats having a real conversation over a cup of tea with your best friend.

You will waste hours of time.
Social media will be your worst enemy when you have a deadline for school, since it will be the biggest excuse for you to procrastinate. You will convince yourself that you need a quick break from writing, so you will check your news feed. Then, an hour later you will find yourself lost in a rabbit hole of meme pages and Pinterest boards. My advice to you is resisting the urge to waste your time, because when you spend your free time online, the consequence offline is missed opportunities in the real world.

You will feel emotionally affected by social media.
As much as I hate to say it, social media will make you feel (in)validated based on how many people double tapped your Instagram photo. Sometimes you will feel satisfied, seeing likes in the triple digits on your latest post and vain comments about how beautiful you look, but, there will also be times when you are insecure compared to the beautiful influencers you see online. You’ll post a photo that you were confident about, only to find that no one liked it and that will make your head spin wondering if you should just delete the photo all together.
Remember, your worth is not defined by the amount of likes you get.

You will live a double life
Who you are online verses how you act in person will sometimes be two different people. Think of it like this, in the real world, you’re Miley Cyrus, but online you are the cooler pop star version of yourself, like Hannah Montana. Just try to keep it real and don’t lose who you really are in the midst of a fantasy.
Overall, social media will become an inevitable part of your life. You will use it to communicate daily. It is only a couple more years, until you get your first Facebook account in 2010 so just enjoy life offline until then, because once you start, your life will never be the same. Also, please don’t stress, everything will work out alright for you.
Lots of Love,
Adult Sarah 💖
XOXO