A Developing Social Media Bubble - Are You Using It To COMPLIMENT Your Life, Or Using It To COVER UP Your Life?? A Potentially Pyrrhic Victory
I hope that this catches some eyes and sparks some healthy debate.
I've been on Steemit and alive long enough to see some people go through major changes from their involvement with social media. Some have evolved. Some have gone the wrong way. I've seen adults try to adopt it. I've seen kids go haywire from it.
I personally don't post on social media except on Steemit (because it can often be genuine), and rarely on Facebook. The thought of plastering myself on Instagram or Twitter seems a bit unhealthy for my taste, and I like my privacy. I also reject feeling the need to put a filter on my [face] life to cherry pick the best stuff so people think everything is roses.
I've never posted on Instagram (no account), and I've sent exactly one Tweet years ago to a company for customer service. Am I lame or behind the curve? Hell no. That culture is simply not for me, and it's an enormous drain on time and energy. When I backed off of Steem for 2 months, my self-generated income went through the roof. It wasn't that I was spending all that time on Steem or online, it was that my mind was distracted from the real world. It was a vital lesson to reinforce. Time = money.
With my extensive qualifications or lack thereof covered, let's move on.
It's both interesting and alarming to see how others adopt and use social media, how it becomes a larger part of their lifestyle, and in almost a scary way -- part of their being.
Some have done well with the adoption and transitions. They've let it be a healthy part of their personal and professional lives. They've balanced it well and I applaud that.
Some have most certainly not. In fact, it seems to introduce countless unhealthy pressures and dynamics that force people to change in ways I don't think are good at all. They get caught in the wormhole and may lose more than they gain.
To those in the middle, maybe it's worth considering which way will be best for you in the long run.
Think about it...
Of the "social" slice, how much is REAL social with humans, and how much is shallow on social media? Furthermore, how large is the social media slice in your life these days, and at what cost?
My post here is to question whether social media is helping people more than making them imbalanced, insecure, unstable, and even worse at being humans.
For example, people can literally go insane on social media and have their behavior normalized. I've seen it on Steemit alone, and there are no shortages of examples in the "news" these days. People can lose sight of reality and their grip on things. It's depressing at best. Does the compass needle for what is normal and abnormal start to move? I say so.
As another example, people are using tools to reshape or rework their bodies, down to their skin and teeth. Slender people can now have the curves they've always wanted (or feel the "Internet" wants). Larger people can trim down. Skin blemishes disappear at the click of a few buttons and the slide of a few scales. People can also bravely take time to select the best emojis or gifs to convey their valid human emotions.
Most people notice this and IT LOOKS WORSE because it highlights one's areas of insecurity or ineptitude. Own who you are, or change it with effort if you're really that uncomfortable! Seriously. Also, posting highly fictitious representations of yourself to mislead people simply sucks. Enjoy the fake attention, but the mirror doesn't lie, and the look of catfished people probably won't be fun.
Also, one's social confidence is theoretically boosted with new followers, friends and fans, but it's not going to fill the void "IRL." ::dry heave::
New egos are born from these types of artificial factors. The issue is that they're not being built on anything that quite REAL. It's fleeting. It's trending. It's often a web of lies in one's own reality series. This is dangerous. Adults can potentially handle this, but children likely won't. We don't need any more teen suicides from social media bullshit.
Anyway, when devices are on, the social media user feels better than who they really are.
When the devices are off, that high may or may not last, and depression is a risk. Why? Because real life is not the same as the social media bubble people are insulating themselves with. I see this bigger picture, and know many smart people will too, but some people seem to be getting tangled up in the web of convenience.
What's next? Symbiosis for people who get too addicted and can't accept their vanilla lives outside of social media? Give it 20 years.
In the meantime, is a camera and display screen the primary focus of some peoples' lives these days? Is someone's small recording alcove now their home and office? It's starting to seem so.
Why spend time with family, go to the gym, eat well, meditate, better yourself, learn skills, be social in person, or work... when you can supplement all of these normal life tasks with social media and software? Hoorayyy!!
^-- Because it's really fucking unhealthy. As role models, parents, or for ourselves, I think some people on Steem and on social media at large should think hard about the paths they're on. I don't want to say too much because who am I to question others when I'm on the virtual sideline? Actually, I sort of prefer to close my "social media" and focus on my health, wellness, physique, social life, and business in the offline universe -- how people have done it for thousands of years before this social media bubble started inflating.
Got a lot of followers, "friends," DMs from others in the vortex, feeling like the king or queen or your social media platform niches of choice, and/or equipped with airbrushed photos making you feel virtually great? It's a pyrrhic victory. If you're not already burned out inside and out, you will be soon. It's unsustainable if you want your sanity.
Life is offline. Unplug for a few weeks and figure that out again if you struggle to agree.
Please come back to reality. Come back to the light.
Thanks,
@steemmatt
If someone goes to a restaurant, and doesn't post a photo on Instagram, did they really eat????
...Was this before or after the concert they went to and watched through their iPhones recording the video above their heads?
LOL, i gonna meditate about that!
I thought about my teenager at home and how my interactions on social media influence his perception. Some of his friends are way into social media. I think everyone needs a time out.
Right on. How well or poorly this generation of adopters handles such a fickle new frontier will certainly have a strong impact on their next generation. That's very wise of you to recognize this.
Hehehe.. I think I'm one of those who find balance in real life and social media😊 I met my fiance on facebook 10 years ago and now he's my hubby. I don't really love to take a self picture because I hate to print it out and it's not cheap too, now I can use my smartphone to snap some pictures and the publish it on social media with stories of the moments, for my own documentary. Im not so into twitter because it's not fun😀 I have instagram but I don't post a lot or biggest fan of influencers... I have my own lifestyle.
I like blogging and I don't care about reputation, readers, payout.. whatever.. I need a place to speak out my mind in any languages I know without prejudice by my relatives and colleagues. After having a hot convo and couple cups of coffee with friends, neighbors, family and beloved one.. I can always share about the place, the taste, the memory, the convo on steemit... sometimes.
I know.. there are a lot of stories about criminal action started from social media interaction, but I think it's not the social media, but the person who use it.
Thanks for your balanced views! I totally get that there are infinite situations in the world where it can help or hurt. From what you've shared, it's a healthy application for you. You also seem very grounded where social media wouldn't bring you down. That's what it should be.
Yes @steemmatt.. unfortunately people like me not easy to find around 😂 I saw my friends get in trouble through social media .. many😊 but I think many people could find the pisitive use of social media more than the negative influence. The way we manage our social media not always define our personality too.
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Dearest professional psychologist, @soyrosa - did I do ok?
You're always doing ok in my eyes <3
As always, there's two sides to the same coin. For some their relationship with online/social media will cause depression, for others it saves them from committing suicide. For some the 'filtered' Insta posts will enhance their insecurities, for others this medium will give them a 'first ever' way to share their genuinely cool personalities even though their looks would have many look away from them at first sight (metal heads, people in wheelchairs, heavily tattooed people that look aggressive but suddenly share the kindest words on their accounts). Most of the times, the more privileged your life is, the least you'll benefit from trends, you'll be heard and appreciated anyway (no, not always, but you know), but for the lesser privileged (lower socio-economic status, disabled people, people with social/behavioural challenges) these tools can be a true life and even money saver (I'm reading a lot in the 'spoonie'/chronic illness communities on twitter and I've seen many medicine been bought by fellow twitter peepz sharing a dollar or two when in need) (I also realize this is mostly an American thing because they have to by lack of alternative, but still, pretty cool under the circumstances).
Some will use social media only superficially, others will gain life-time friendships from it which they might have not been able to find 'offline'.
There's a few extremes I noticed the last few years (I've been 'hardcore' on Twitter since 2007, way less active the last years, but I've seen it evolve from the beginning years):
Indeed as always balance is the key. I must say, when I started on Twitter I had had years of experience on a social media community like Steem but (ofc) without the crypto. It was amazing. When Twitter came we lost the sense of 'community' as people started to do 'personal branding'/making a name for themselves was more important than actual engaging. For me, Steem was like finding a goldmine in more ways than one as I was finally able to move away from that 'personal branding' stuff and go back to a (relatively) small engaging community again.
(Ironic PS: I've been off-Steem for the past few weeks a lot because I'm trying to figure out the old-skool social media again as I want to make a name for my 'brand', lol, and damn it's tiring.)
Sorry for the freewrite. I loved your post. Could've left it at that :P Hugs.
You are wrong. There is only one side of this coin.
You are so smart. Thank you.
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