A Letter to My Younger Self
Dear Melissa,
Social media will take you on a wild journey that will probably last for your entire life. I know what you’re probably thinking right now: “Wait. I don’t even have social media accounts.” Well, you will soon be FINALLY allowed to have social media platforms and have a sense of life through the social media lense. C’mon, I know you always wondered what it would be like to have Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat. After all, 18-year-old you is writing this letter to give you a bit of insight as to how your social journey will be and some advice to consider.
First of all, since you are late to the social media game, you will first be anxious about the amount of followers you have. It will take quite some time for you to build your number of followers. The majority of your friends will have numerous followers, especially that one friend that has 1000 Instagram followers. You will often wonder if you would have had more followers if you joined social media earlier or wonder if people would judge you based on the amount of followers you have. Don’t worry too much about this. You will soon learn that the amount of followers doesn’t matter and the number of true friends does. For instance, the majority of followers that your friends have are random people that they have never met. It is much better to have a lower follower account then to display your personal life to a variety of people you don’t know. This way, you’re social media experience is more personal and shared with more important people in your life.
You will feel immersed in a world that somewhat feels fake because people only post highlights from their lives. You will have some feelings of jealousy seeing people travelling to places that you want to go to or be jealous of those with a much better fashion sense than you. The best thing to do is to be grateful for who you are and what you have. I mean, facing jealousy on social media will be inevitable. I still get jealous everytime I see someone posting a photo of themself visiting Los Angeles or Italy. Moreover, you will feel an urge to consistently post after major events or even during these events with Snapchat stories to show off what you’re doing. My advice to you is to enjoy the moment. Put down your phone and enjoy the simple moments with your friends instead of feeling pressured with the need to update your Snapchat story.
Unfortunately, social media will cause you to feel insecure at times if you let it get to you. Seeing people post Snapchat stories of parties while you’re at home on a Saturday night watching Netflix or reading a book will cause you to feel insecure about yourself. You will wonder why you were not invited knowing damn well you weren’t invited because you had never even talked to the girl that hosted the party. But, it will still bother you out of fear that you are missing out of the high school experience. However, you have to remember who you truly are in order to get past these insecurities. You’re a girl who enjoys staying home reading a good book and binging tv shows as well as hanging out with a select group of close friends. You would have even been to a few parties and found that you did not enjoy it. Even at 18 years old, you are still that girl and you will learn that it’s okay to embrace yourself for your interests. Once you listen to Alessia Cara’s song “Here”, you will feel like you have written it yourself because it is too relatable.
Overall, social media will contribute to your life as a source of happiness. It’s always those simple moments that will cause you to burst into a grin whether it’s a meme on Twitter, your friend tagging you in dog videos (yes, I’m talking about Jesse) or those moments when you realize your childhood was shared. Those memes about forgetting to take the chicken out to defrost before your mom gets home will always get a laugh out of you because you know you can relate. Most of all, “this tweet reminded me of you” will brighten your day. Just the thought about people thinking of you will contribute to happiness. Just the other day, I had two friends dm me the same tweet because they knew I have a laugh. Spoiler alert, it was of Tom Hiddleston singing that same country song that the Walmart kid was singing. You’re probably confused, but you will get into your Tom Hiddleston phase as soon as you begin to watch him as Loki and you will be introduced to the Walmart kid in 2018. The fact that two people sent me the same tweet showed me how they paid attention to my interests and made me smile.
Most importantly, with the knowledge I learned about how social media contributes to a major deal of depression and anxiety, it is crucial that you ensure your social media experience as well as others is a good one. Like and comment on other people’s photos, whether or not you are close friends with them. Make sure you comment on that girl’s photo that sits beside you in math class and that girl’s photo of whom you know gets bullied. Don’t do this out of selfish desires to get more likes and comments in return. Instead, try to boost other’s confidence and self-esteem. You know how it feels to be bullied, to have anxious thoughts about how others see you and even insecurity issues when you post your own selfies. Be kind to everyone and be kind to yourself.
Wishing you all the best on your social media journey,
Future Melissa
