The Dark Side of Social Media

Everyday we are inundated with pokes, pings, pins and pictures. We are captive creatures held hostage by our cell phones, computers, and tablets. These devices are constantly alerting us to an ever-growing list of apps providing the latest, greatest whatever. I believe these applications were initially presented and viewed as a way to connect with friends and family. We were given the ability to reach out across the globe and purposely reconnect with people we regretfully lost contact with, stay close to those we love and share our lives through posts and pics. But somehow along this progressive journey into technology, things began to change.

From Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest, we capture and collect our continuous selfie stream of flashing memorable moments. We have gone from documenting our vacations and photos of the bae to a downright minute by minute virtual delivery of every aspect of our daily doings.

We feel the need to show and share the sunrise, outfit of the day, our morning lattes, drive to work, yoga class, hikes through the woods, walking the dog, shopping at the mall, and the beautiful plate of food we prepared or ordered. Every physical activity that we are involved with is photostreamed for all eyes to see.

Those examples may be more than enough to annoy some of us. But let us go one step further and visualize those pictures of the people who are the world-travelers, the adventurers, and the explorers.

Some of these individuals actually choose their destination based solely on landscape backdrops. The gorgeous scenery lures us to look. They have hooked us, if only for a few seconds. That time frame signaled the brain to react. “It looks lovely. I wish I could be there, right now.”

Why wouldn’t we want to meditate in Sedona, fish at the Outerbanks, surf in Hawaii, visit the Taj Mahal, climb Mount Everest, or have the wind blow through our hair on the moors of Scotland?

Sign me up!

If you become slightly envious, you have bought what they are selling.

Social media is centered around comparing yourself to others.

Do I have more or less than what they have? How do I measure up?

Social media creators want you to consciously or unconsciously evaluate your happiness based on others’ lives.

We are all victims of this game.

Life has its way of presenting challenges to test our strength and how you choose to deal with these challenges determines your character. However, social media has a way of simplifying and generalizing a host of diverse experiences into one pretty picture that captures a single moment in time—a moment that may not accurately reflect one’s state of mind or quality of life.
If you regularly engage with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest etc., you are wasting your time competing in a game that has no winners.

You will inevitably spend hours scrolling through seemingly ideal pictures of couples, innovative decorating ideas, fancy dinners and cute dogs ripping up toilet paper. Social media slowly becomes an all-consuming way of life.

You may feel left out if you don’t post your own creative photos for others to like, comment and share. You either play the game or get played by it.
You will find yourself spending more and more time manipulating your photos and statuses to convince others of how great everything is than you will spend actually living your life.

If you find these feelings of doubt about the quality of your life creeping up on you, I assure you that your time for adventure will come when you stop seeking it externally and when you start looking within. Feel grateful for the blessings that surround you. Take advantage of small adventures and opportunities that present themselves. Get Offline. Stop finding followers and start finding real friends. Spend time with them and enjoy yourself. Don’t compare yourself and your life to pages in someone else’s story.

Find out what REAL life is when others are not watching.