I have some beef with social media sites. I say social media sites specifically because the Internet is a beautiful thing and undoubtedly the best part of the 21st century. My perspective on social media, however, differs a little.
After four years or so of half-assed, half-interested scrolling through timelines, I finally deleted my Tumblr and Twitter account. I deleted the Tumblr account mainly because it was a waste of my time, and I had adopted a useless habit of looking at Tumblr instead of doing just about anything else, which probably would have been more productive. I deleted my Twitter account for a different reason, for the same reason I will likely delete my Snapchat soon and have a growing disinterest in Facebook: I spent time communicating with people who haven’t been in my life for years.
My Twitter timeline could be divided into two categories: news, and high school acquaintances. I read the news on other sites, and have for some time, and I haven’t seen my high school acquaintances since I graduated and moved across the country. My family and closest friends are not people I need social media to communicate with. So why had I kept Twitter for so long? Habit, mostly. I also firmly believe that social media is so embedded into our society that it’s more strange and abnormal to not have social media accounts than to have them, and for that subconscious knowledge, I just never deleted the account.
But here’s the thing about social media: it keeps people in your life. Theoretically, this is what’s great about these sites, right? You want to be able to communicate with people. My two closest friends live across the country, so of course I understand and appreciate this; I want to be able to talk to them within minutes should I be so inclined. I don’t need social media sites for that, however. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, or whatever – these sites keep people in your life who naturally would not be remaining in your life. As you age, you change and grow and move on. People will naturally be left behind in this process, and as they fade from your life, you will fade from others’. It is normal. It is, as I see it, necessary for personal growth. Though it is a part of life that is more bitter than sweet, this teaches several lessons: namely, acceptance of change rather than fear of change and the ability to say goodbye (which is important when you have toxic relationships in your life). A society embedded in social media doesn’t teach these lessons, but instead keeps those frayed and distanced relationships that are not needed.
It is a frustrated and negative perspective on social media, I know. And hey – I love Instagram as much as the next girl. But I don’t need my ex following me on Snapchat, a guy from high school messaging me on Facebook to “catch up” on the last three years, or be expected to care about the mediocre tweets of a co-worker from two jobs ago. I can’t focus on my future, or even my present, when I am constantly looking into the past. This is being said with my love for the Internet (I mean, really: I’m listening to music for free right now, about to publish writing for free online to the wide, wide world. I love the Internet), and that love should be kept in mind. Because the Internet is a wonderful thing, but the consequences of social media is not such a wonderful thing. Our culture may be obsessed with social media to a fault, but I refuse to live my life through my phone.
Dirty Shoes. 