Social Media - My Experience

Social Media has its positives and negatives. But I’m sure we can all unanimously agree that it causes a lot of unnecessary issues.

For example, until quarantine I never used Instagram. I downloaded it and created an account and used it to pass the time. I followed some celebrities who I loved. I liked keeping up with their lives and seeing who they really are other than the songs or movies they produce.

But the downside- I watched these beautiful celebrities have the perfect face, with chiseled cheekbones and a strong, cut jawline. They had bodies which were deemed to fit into supposed standards. I’m someone who’s always been comfortable in my skin, but the next time I looked in the mirror, I could only point out every way how my figure did not stand a candle to those celebrities and models. This brought down my mental health to an all time low. Another example is, I would see my classmates out and having a great time with their own friends. This started to make me ungrateful about my own friends and I felt left out. Similarly, I kept comparing myself to every little thing on Social Media until my self esteem dropped to its lowest. It’s then how I submitted to God and He spoke to me and it’s by His grace alone I’ve improved much.

I know I know. “Social Media isn’t real” or “You don’t know what’s going on behind cameras”. Let’s be real here. If what’s going on behind cameras isn’t real, you’re only going to feel happy that someone else isn’t having a great time. You’re just happy that someone else isn’t happy. If someone’s actually edited their pictures to look a certain way, you’re just happy that someone else is also insecure.

Instead of finding such filthy joys, it’s better for one to eradicate social media completely. It’s a place for people to boast or show off. You don’t need to watch that or join that. You don’t need to spend 8hrs of your day just watching other people and have degrading thoughts of yourself. Spend more time making real connections, living in real life, and watch life unfold with your own two eyes, rather than through a rectangular box. Or yes some people advise to follow only educational accounts of sorts. But come on, You and I, we’re definitely not gonna do that. 

Or another option, would be - if you get way too emotionally invested in media, take a break from it, grow and mature and come back to it. It is hard. But if you learn to emotionally detach from everything you see online, it is the best case scenario, as it helps one to be on social media yet use it diligently. This is precisely what I’m doing right now. I got too emotionally invested in one of my social media apps, so I deleted it. If I ever feel ready to download it again, I will, but it’ll take time. I’m enjoying living life in the moment, and not have the nudging worry of showing it off online to prove that I’m also “cool”

For where jealousy and self ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice - James 3:16