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Dogs or cats? (To prove Mr. Starace wrong)

Social Media: An Alternate Reality 12/9/17









































        Social media is a place many go to escape their hectic lives. On social media, we can view what's going on in our friends', our relatives', and famous celebrities' lives. Lots of people assume that the curated content they're looking at on someone's profile completely embodies what their life is like. This is anything but true.
        If I were to choose any one of my classmates' Instagram pages, I would most likely see pictures of them with friends, being somewhere that's cool, or doing/posting about a hobby of theirs. While looking at these photos, one would assume that their posts fully and honestly reflect how their life is. In reality, I know that most of my classmates spend the majority of their "free time" doing homework or studying when they're not in school. Everybody is guilty of shaping their lives to look a particular way on social media. An even more extreme version of this would be celebrities and how they manipulate what they post to make it seem like they live a carefree and stress free life. Social media is a filter we can put over our lives to make it appear as if we live an ideal life. We can sculpt our lives to our exact liking to make sure people see it and think we live a life drastically different than everyone else.
        Why do we do this? We don't want to be seen as boring, uninteresting, or lame, we want people to think we have exciting lives. I could post pictures of the majority of my life right now which is sitting at a desk doing homework or going to school. But I don't. I don't because nobody wants to see that, they want to see something that'll provide them a split second of interest, or excitement through putting themselves in mine or another's shoes.
        This is harmful. I especially see the effects of this practice on other kids like me. I've heard people talk about someone else's life seems like so much fun with the only evidence they have to prove this is that person's social media page. They then go on to compare that person's "life" to their own, coming to the conclusion that their life must suck. But the person they're talking about could be looking at their social media thinking the exact same thing about their life. Comparing yourself to anyone else in almost any other circumstance is unhealthy. I'm not advising for people to start posting pictures of themselves doing homework, or sitting in their cubicle at work. I don't care to see that and I don't think anyone else does either. I'm advising against comparing your life to what you see on someones social media page whether it's a celebrity or your peer. Only seeing one side of a story is dangerous.

Comments

  1. emmaDecember 11, 2017 at 9:29 PM

    Your take on social media is interesting. "Social media is a filter we can put over our lives to make it appear as though we live an ideal life". Certainly, in comparing one's paraded life to the facade of another's is detrimental; you are comparing two set unrealistic and deeming them both true. Social media definitely gives people plenty of opportunity to construct idealized ideas of perfection, whether it be lifestyle, opinion, or otherwise, through what they post, share, or like. Your conclusion is spot on: share what pleases you, for that is the purpose of social media, just refrain from comparing single stories lest you create a truth from them.

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