Social Media is my Special-K
Last week, I kept a log of my media habits for 24 hours. Not surprisingly, my laziness overpowered my addiction to memes for a small part of the day, but by noon I was busy consuming social media like spoonfuls of cereal.
My day started smoothly enough: a visit to Instagram for my morning updates and memes, followed by a visit to Twitter to look for news and trending topics. Given the plethora of “fake news” and literal trash news reporting, I rely on Twitter to give me a bevy of opinions, takes and facts regarding current events. That doesn’t mean there isn’t false information or complete garbage on Twitter, but at least if you find a polarizing post, there are comments and threads to either prove or disprove the post. In this way, Twitter has become a bulletin board of current events, thoughts, opinions and posts that allows users to fact check, agree with or provide rebuttals to. This checks and balances system of users providing content based off of their own research allows for true discourse and provides free academic labor that users like me (the kind that snoop without contributing) can use to form our own opinions and fact check the posts ourselves without the work. At the moment, Twitter feels like the only solution to biased and fake information and so, Twitter has become as vital as a deliciously balanced breakfast.
Twitter has become as vital as a deliciously balanced breakfast.
This day was unusual in that I woke up early to go to the gym, so my usual never-ending scrolling was limited to about 5–8 minutes. By the afternoon, I checked out my LinkedIn app and responded to a few messages. This is the most action LinkedIn gets on my profile. Besides an occasional “like” or a direct message, I’m only on LinkedIn when I’m looking for a job or when I’m trying to humble brag with a new job update.
Then, it was back to the races with an afternoon visit to my beloved Instagram and Twitter (follow me at: @instadar) to share brief moments of joy and happiness in the form of memes with my sister and friends via direct message.
Of course, like any millennial, I had to have one last bowl of social media cereal for the day and took to Instagram before turning in for the night. While launching social media apps is second nature, I find that the use of social media helps to keep me connected to my loved ones. While I still text message and write emails for longer form content, I actively use memes and funny posts to connect with people in my life. It’s not as demanding to connect with someone when I can send memes reflecting inside jokes or funny stories. It relieves the pressure of engaging in an hour-long text conversation with a family member or classmate. It keeps relationships relevant without the commitment of conversation. It’s what the Go-gurt yogurt snack is to breakfast — no spills and no bowl.
It keeps relationships relevant without the commitment of conversation.
Who would send memes to my sister all the way down in San Diego if I didn’t use Instagram in random bouts throughout the day? Who would retweet a Twitter thread on intersectional feminism if not me? It’s the mobile, easy way to say, “Hey, thinking of you,” or “This reminded me of you. Hope you’re doing well,” without the emotional demand of telling someone you’re thinking of them. This is especially true when you want to share a laugh with an old friend or colleague. The sacrifices of furthering humor and social justice are small in comparison with the number of followers and the casually renewed connections that come with sharing online. So, I’ll keep bearing the burden of social media addiction as long as it’s carb-free.
