Tread Lightly
A letter to my younger self on navigating social media.
To the younger me,
I’m writing this in hopes of providing you with a couple pieces of advice that you will absolutely find useful in the next ten years of your life. Don’t be scared, the future has a lot of fun in store! Here’s a sneak peak: In 2018, Pizza Hut will launch a pair of shoes that can deliver pizza for you at the press of a button. Yup.
Let’s start with the basics. At some point in the year 2009 you’re going to sit down at mom and dad’s desktop computer and discreetly set up your very first social media account on a website called Facebook. That’s a term you’ve probably never heard before: social media. Social media is essentially a handful of digital networks that let you share your life with other people through photos, messaging, video, and more. The people who see your posts will be friends, family, and even strangers. It might sound like a foreign concept now, but this thing is going to take over the world in the next decade. In fact, people will create entire careers off social media — we call them “influencers” since they tend to influence their followers to give into certain trends.
You’re going to start with Facebook. Facebook is exactly what it sounds like: an index of familiar faces with whom you can share everything about your life from places you travel to, to events you attend, to what you’re eating for lunch. A piece of advice here is to keep it simple. Share small pieces of your life but don’t share everything. As you’ll learn, there is such a thing as oversharing on social media, and it can cost you as you get older. In fact, Facebook is going through a scandal right now due to a massive breach in user privacy. So, have fun, but proceed with caution and don’t put any private or valuable information on your profile. Think of it this way: Don’t put anything on social media that you wouldn’t want everyone to know about you!
That brings me to my next point. Social media comes with some baggage, and navigating this territory can be tough when you’re young, vulnerable, and trying to keep up with trends. The mental side effects that social media has on us are called “stressors”. The main four stressors of social media are listed below. Pay close attention to each one, and keep them in mind as you proceed through your social media journey.
- The Highlight Reel:
Your social media accounts will act as a highlight reel of your life. You’ll feel encouraged to post all about your best outfits, meals, selfies (you’ll find out about these soon), vacations and nights out with friends. But, what you usually won’t feel complied to post will be all of the behind-the-scenes moments of your life which aren’t so perfect. Since everyone else will operate by the same mentality, this creates a landscape prone to comparison. Essentially, you’ll be comparing all the moments in your life, perfect and imperfect, to everyone else’s highlight reel. This is why it’s key to remember that no ones life is as perfect as it seems on social media.
2. Social Currency:
When something on social media is deemed cool or valuable, users will validate it through positive engagements such as likes, comments and shares. So, in the same way that spending money on a product validates its value, giving a social media post your engagement works in the same way. As you’ll come to see, almost every business will begin to harness social media to their advantage and operate within this so-called “Economy of Attention”.
3. Fear of Missing Out (FOMO):
Fear of Missing Out, which you’ll come to know as simply FOMO, is the social anxiety attached to the fear of missing an event, opportunity or connection. Think back to the highlight reel; Since everyone is showing off their best moments on social media, there’s bound to be some jealousy and anxiety attached to missing a certain moment — be it a concert, party or even just lunch with your friends. FOMO is the reason why young people have such a deep attachment to their accounts, since the fear of feeling disconnected to our own culture is, frankly, terrifying. As you get older, though, you’ll find it much easier to subdue your FOMO as you begin to realize that missing out on one event or moment is not the end of the world. In fact, social media is special in this regard because it allows us to live through moments that we didn’t even attend much later than they happen.
4. Online Harassment:
The first three social media stressors are fairly par-for-the-course or normal to experience throughout your social media journey. But, it’s most important to be aware of the final stressor: online harassment. Although social media can be a fun and free-flowing channel of life’s greatest moments, it also acts as a unique and dangerous environment for bullying. Social media allows bullies to be anonymous in many ways, which strips them of any accountability that they may face in real life. Any kind of unwanted, embarassing, or damaging remarks on social media warrant online harassment. The good news is, though, that there are many ways to combat this if you do encounter it going forward. Most social media platforms have channels for reporting abusive users and getting their accounts suspended. If the harassment is serious and involves valid threats towards you or another person, you should get the police involved.
Since online harassment is so different from in-person harassment, it’s also important to be aware of when you might be participating in it. Be careful when sharing other people’s posts or information and always get their consent first.
I found this video recently and really related to it’s message. As a young girl navigating social media, you’re going to encounter a handful of unrealistic beauty standards generated on these platforms. Being aware of this will give you insight that most of your friends won’t have for years to come.
This letter isn’t meant to scare you, it’s meant to provide you will the tools you need to conquer your social media journey safely and successfully. You still have lots to learn along the way, but these four considerations are fundamental to setting the scene. I’ll leave you with my final piece of advice. Make this your social media mantra: Tread lightly, have fun, and take everything with a grain of salt.
Yours truly,
Future Grace
