Social Reflection

The first social media account I had ever opened was Facebook in, I believe, 2008. I would have been 10 years old, which was definitely not old enough to be on Facebook according to it’s policy. But that’s where I started.

Throughout the course of my 10 years on social media, I have undoubtedly dealt with the 4 most common stressors of social media, those being comparing other’s highlight reel to my own behind the scenes, thinking of likes and follows as a form of social currency, F.O.M.O., and especially online harassment.

Being so young when I joined social media, I think the maturity levels of myself and my peers with social accounts played a big factor in the amount of online harassment we received and gave out. Every kid experiences bullying in their young ages, but social media took it a step further. I had statuses posted about myself and I know that I posted about others. I was extremely active on twitter, and still am for the most part, when it first became popular and I dabbled in tumblr and other forms of social media for a little while.

If I could give my very young self any kind of advice about my social media journey I think it would be:

1. Let it only be a positive: Just like in life, there are so many different kinds of people online and it is important to be respectful of everyone and their views and opinions just like you would if you were encountering them face to face. Being behind a screen shouldn’t change anything.
2. Be careful: Through social media, you will meet so many new people from all over. A few will become your closest friends and although you may not stay close with them, you will probably learn a lot from navigating this new kind of online friendship. There are also a lot of things you don’t know about the friends you are making. Be open, but also be critical of others because not everyone shares every part of them online.
3. Lastly, its not that deep: Social media isn’t your real life. While there are times when it may seem easier to navigate, it is important to step out of your online bubble. Let things roll off you, there are trolls. Don’t take yourself too seriously, nobody likes someone who’s stuck up on social media. Just because someone looks like they live a luxury life, doesn’t mean that they do. Nobody wants to share the bad stuff about their life on social media.

Post what you want. Follow who you want. Like who/what you want. It is your social media account, don’t fall into trying to replicate someone else’s style.

Thinking about going forward, any advice I can leave my future self is with the same advice I left my younger self. Although I am not as deep in social media as I used to be, its still applicable. I think the one thing that I could probably repeat is, post what you want. If you like the photo/video and you want to share it, then do it. Don’t be afraid to showcase your creative work. No one is going to be as critical as you are.