Dear Feraud, From Your Older Gay Self.
Dear Feraud,
Hey bit*h!! You made your first social media account! Congrats! I know that MSN seems like all the rage right now but you’ll see how that ends up in a couple of years… Most importantly I’m writing this to simply let you know that you just took the first steps into a world that is ultimately going to change your life and the world around you. I’m just going to give you a few tips and tricks to make sure that it doesn’t steer you the wrong way. Don’t get me wrong social media is amazing! I’m not only here to be all emotional I’m also going to help you not look like a hot mess on your social media accounts in a few years (because you definitely need it sis, no shade)
Ok sis let’s straight into it. First of all, you’re going to notice that many people around you have more friends on their accounts or more followers. Try your best not to feel intimidated or feel like you should be the same. At the end of the day, followers don’t mean as much as people make it seem. Although it feels nice to see that people like you so much to follow your social media journey, it isn’t anything to worry over. I know that sounds harder than it looks simply because social media provides a perfect platform to put ourselves out there and easily compare ourselves, but you have to remember that it is only a website at the end of the day and although you may not have thousands of followers, you get to share your life with the people that are close to you instead of many whom you have no idea who they are.
After a little while, you’re going to fall madly in love with a certain pop star named Justin Bieber. Oh yes, you’re going to be THAT guy. The guy that swears he’s straight, but gets his LIFE whenever one less lonely girl comes on. From following Mr. Biebs on social media, you’re going to notice that there are many accounts using his picture, but are not him. Why? You ask? Those my dear, young Feraud are stan accounts. To put it simply, those accounts are just like regular social media accounts, but they are solely dedicated to whoever they love… sounds pathetic right? Well guess what, you eventually make one. Honey, you got a big storm coming. Stan twitter (derived from the iconic Eminem record in which he has a crazy fan named ‘Stan’) is a truly different place from normal social media. Filled with its own lingo, jokes and rituals, you are going to have a completely different experience from before. You are suddenly going to be learning the in’s and out’s of social media. Taking tips and tools that are going to stick with you through your social media journey. Soon, you are going to experience what it’s like to amass a large amount of followers on your stan accounts. This brings in my next topic, comparing.
As I said before, as having followers can feel great. However, as you get bigger on social media, it allows you to critique and judge every part of yourself in an effort to constantly refine and put out the best version of yourself for people to see. But that’s the thing I need you to realize. Social media can feel so real because you are on those applications for quite a bit of your day, but social media is not as real as you think. The biggest lesson I want you to take from this is that social media is simply people putting the best parts of themselves online for others to see. Creating virtual identities to their profile and having a personal brand to maintain. If you are only seeing the best parts of a person, is that an accurate representation of themselves? I’ll help you out here sis… NOPE. Since everyone using social media uses this strategy of putting the best parts of themselves online to market to their followers, you can’t take it seriously in terms of believing what is right and wrong for your life. Since everyone is trying to be perfect, the status quo on social media is way higher and can force people to feel insecure if they don’t look, act or feel that way… and by people i mean you too sis (I just didn’t wanna call you out like that)
When scrolling on instagram or twitter, you’re going to notice that most of the people you see don’t really look like you. Things such as being skinny, funny and popular is what is promoted through social media and is going to make you feel like you have to look and act like that in order to be popular too. Save your time sis, it’s not going to work. At the end of the day you can only thrive (whether it be on social media or in real life) by being yourself, and I know that sounds so corny, but it’s true. As much as seeing others on social media can make you feel insecure and alone, it can also give you the representation and community that you need.
Without spilling too much, social media plays a huge roll in you finding yourself, Feraud. Your little gay ass is going to LIVE for the social media influencers that come your way. From ones that tell jokes, to lifestyle and ultimately makeup (I know it sounds crazy, but in 10 years it’s going to be all you do) Although you know yourself, social media shaped you you are going to be. You are going to find yourself filled with happiness and joy when you finally feel accepted into communities of people just like you through social media. Those influences on social media along with the confidence you gain through these cyber communities are going to give you the courage to come out and unapologetically be yourself.
