My Thoughts on Social Media: LJ1

My personal do's and don'ts of social media

    Social media has become a profound part of my and everyone else's lives in the past 20 years. According to Blogging Wizard, 53.6% of the global population uses social media. I have grown up surrounded by social media and seen the good and bad that it can do, so I use these learned experiences to influence how I use social media today. I have learned that posting milestone accomplishments or fun experiences can be good for both yourself and others. I also make sure that I do not spend too much time looking at social media; it is good in moderate usage, but if you continually use social media it can become bad for your mental health. The rule that I follow the most is not to post anything that you would not be comfortable seeing in the news. Words can be taken out of context and once you post anything online it is there forever. 

How I used social media

    Although social media was around since I was born, I did not start using it until I was in 6th grade. This was the first time that I had a phone, so I decided to download Snapchat and Instagram so I could talk with my friends. This was well beyond the Sixdegrees days and Facebook was used by parents, not middle schoolers. When I first started using social media I had fun with it and posted things that I liked rather than what I thought other people would like. I never had a big social media presence, but when I first got on social platforms I posted a lot more than I do currently. I still use Snapchat and Instagram today, but I also use LinkedIn and TikTok. I would say that I am most active on Snapchat and LinkedIn when it comes to posting content. When it comes to viewing content I use Snapchat, Tiktok, and Instagram almost equally to watch videos and see what my friends post or send to me. I wish that I knew how to find funny videos when I was first starting to use social media. As silly as that may sound, some of the best laughs that I have had were from videos that I found and it puts you in a good mood for the rest of your day.

My feelings on social media

I think that many things about social media are good, but there are just as many things that can be harmful. I think that social media is a great way to show self-expression, but by that same logic, it is just as easy to mask who you really are. Everyone wants to put out a positive self-image to make people think that they are living the life, but most people have mundane lives and their digital profiles are just the highlights. I think that sometimes social media can give someone a dopamine rush or make them feel hollow. I think that selfies overall are a bad thing. I am guilty of taking a lot of selfies on Snapchat, but I feel like some people become overly self-critical or narcissistic because of them. Some people like Pete Davidson have quit social media, but it is a hard thing to do because people do not want the negatives that come from it but they also want to see what their friends and family are doing. I personally will stay on social media, but I am always aware of how I use it and when I need to tune things down.