SOCIAL MEDIA // IS IT REALLY THAT IMPORTANT?
09:38
The weather has been awful for the past while so I haven't been taking many photos, which is really unfortunate. I've been out going to music events and meeting people and for the most part it's been all really exciting. I'm sitting up at two in the morning writing this, the night before Hurricane Ophelia hits our little country and I thought, why not distract myself from the world and write something? I am on a tangent with this topic so bear with me, will you?
I got the idea for this post a few days ago after a conversation I had about relationships and social media. It really made me reconsider the emphasis I put on social media. The idea of social media creating this weird obsession among people that you have to show people you're out doing exciting things all the time. How likes, messages and even emojis mean so much when they really really shouldn't. How things can get horribly misinterpreted through social media. While the fact that I'm thinking about this and realizing how much of a problem it is for us all (myself included) is a good thing, it makes me wonder how my generation is obsessed with social media.
Because I have a blog, I feel pressure to be constantly updating, whether it's sharing an interesting article on my blog's Facebook page, picking clothes to share on an Instagram post or even just posting a new blog post. You feel a sense of unproductivity when you are scrolling through people's photos online and you haven't posted any sort of image on your Instagram story. Oh, you have to keep 'your content' consistent. I find myself looking on ASOS Marketplace for clothes to share and yes, I do enjoy it, but sometimes it feels like a chore. It's so silly, isn't it? It's as though if I don't show some sign of activity online or don't keep looking at my feed that people will forget about me and my blog - or I'll miss out on something.
You often see the word 'FOMO' on the internet. Not a word I'd be using in general conversation but for the sake of explaining, I will. 'Fear of missing out?' What am I missing out on really if I take a break from Facebook? A funny video people are getting tagged in. Celebrity gossip. Messages from friends. While it's nice to pass the time looking at things, I find myself forgetting how nice it is to put my phone away and properly enjoy the company of the people around me. The thing is I don't have to update my Instagram constantly if I don't want to. Life gets in the way and some days I just don't feel like searching through my clothes to wear a new and 'trendy outfit'. My social media accounts are like me: often messy, disorganized, sometimes extremely motivated. I really want to take a step back and remember why I started blogging in the first place.
I was eighteen years old, a proper bookworm, always with a pen and copy in my hand, writing stories. I started my blog in 2013 as a place to write out my thoughts on the issues I care about. That's what it should still be about, not worrying about likes on an Instagram picture or seeing how many views a new post gets. None of that matters. When I write a new blog post, my priority is the words. I do like taking photos but I spend most of my time rewriting sentences and editing until I like the flow of language. The words matter, not the views. I'd rather put out something I'm proud of than to write something just to entice viewers.
I wish I didn't care so much about who watches my Instagram story or how many likes a photo gets - I'm working on that. Right now it's almost three o' clock in the morning and I know I'll go on to see who's been looking through it and it makes me laugh. Maybe I won't post an Instagram photo tomorrow. Maybe I will. Maybe I'll stay offline all day. Who knows? I'm going to try to care less about social media and all it entails and just focus on the real things. People my age tend to put too much focus on social media interactions when what really matters is the world around you.
Thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts!
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