Social (and so much more) media

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Did you work-out today? What did you eat? Was it so aesthetically pleasing you could upload it to Instagram without a filter? Or was it one of those images you just stow away on your VSCO? How was your weekend? What did everyone else eat today? Did they work-out? How was everyone else’s weekend?

This information overload is what we subject ourselves to, sometimes daily or even hourly, through our use of social media. We are the millennials that catapulted ourselves from AIM (confession: my username was Soccerpup712) to MySpace to the status quo trio of Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. And I would certainly be remiss if I didn’t mention Snapchat, YouTube, and Tumblr, among others.

We connect with each other through multiple channels and each of these channels occupy our time and attention. By no means is all social media bad, as it maintains a way to express valuable sentiments and ideas to those both close and far and efficaciously, as we can instantly reach audiences of hundreds and thousands through a click, through a share. Social media enables us to share others pieces of our beautiful world around us we find worthy of sharing.

I had the valuable opportunity this past weekend to run at arguably one of the most historic indoor track facilities in the nation, so naturally, I shared pictures of the Armory on both my Snapchat and Instagram. I was thoroughly enthusiastic to be running on the same track as my favorite professional runners and Olympians. Heck, I didn’t post one Snapchat — I posted like three. Also, as a senior on the brink of graduation, I am very dependent on social media to stay in touch with both my professors and peers.

However, our current inundation of social media applications is accumulating substantial evidence which support both its overuse and threat to both mental and physical health. It’s quite ironic that what is supposed to make us feel so connected actually contributes to us feeling detached. Studies have supported a positive association between the odds of social isolation and social media use, in terms of both frequency and time. (1) Social isolation doesn’t just pose ramifications for mental health, but can also influence physical well-being and is linked to conditions such as obesity. Furthermore, additional research supports how the amount of social media applications used is associated with both symptoms of depression and anxiety (2). The amount of different social media outlets you use can potentially impact mental health.

My point isn’t to vilify all forms of social media. A survey in the UK appraised both positive and negative attributes of social media, supporting how use of social media facilitates self-identity, a channel for self-expression, and provides emotional support. The darker side of the survey revealed outcomes pertaining to bullying, perception of body image, depression, and anxiety.

My point is to clarify the difference between social media use and misuse and to recognize modern day social media is so much more than just social media. It’s essential to recognize the connections we cherish and the experiences we want to share. It’s also important to be cognizant of the conscious and subconscious self-comparisons and the time we devote to our virtual selves and virtual presence.

There is a chance to promote a dark cycle through social media wherein you spend periods of time comparing yourself to others. Instead of investing that valuable time in to yourself, it is seized by social media. Thus, the cycle continues, as you make more comparisons and devote more time in to what you are not instead of focusing in on who you are, or want to be.

The chance to invest that time in to your real life, in to meaningful interactions with others around you in the tangible world, should not be robbed of us by social media. Our use of social media should not inhibit us to enjoy who we are, improve ourselves to who we want to be, and live the life we want to live.  

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