Social Media Change

The impact that social media has created - seen everywhere in the world around us -is too vast to adequately describe.  These changes and influences that have resulted in social media are sometimes a very positive, uplifting, inspiring, and happy. At other times it has resulted in feelings of jealousy, self-doubt & discouragement, and can even be destructive. 

An article written in 2015 talks about how social media has changed the way we communicate and our interaction with others for better and for worse. Some of the positive ways social media has impacted the way we communicate is that we can interact with a large number of people, and quickly. We are able to reach a far wider audience than we would without it. We also have very open freedom of speech that before was only attainable if you were face-to-face with the person you were interacting with. With both of these positive things comes great power. Unfortunately, in many situations, that power is abused and wasted.

The article also talks about how addicted some are to constantly be checking their phones, and would rather do that than engage in a meaningful conversation with a child or spouse. In fact, some people are “completely incapable of carrying on a normal conversation or interaction with people in person because of the dependency of social media”.

            I want to talk about one more point that I think is important to touch on and goes hand in hand with how social media has effected our communication. Social media can bring forth many insecurities. Hailey Devine recently wrote posted a blog post about how we may be taking what is posted on social media too seriously. Because people appear to have these “perfect lives”, viewers can feel frustrated that their lives aren’t going as smoothly as what they are seeing in their feeds. Or, they can feel as though they are being lied to and that the people that are posting are being ‘fake’.

            Hailey’s expresses her dilemma that she wants to be genuine in her posts, but she also loves to create and share her creativity to inspire and uplift – so she wants to do a good job of her posts and make sure they are aesthetically pleasing.

            “It comes down to how we as viewers choose to look at social media”. Hailey reminds her readers that no one is forcing us to follow anyone, and to “keep spaces around you that fill you with inspiration and make you feel uplifted”. Her suggestion for herself and others is to remind yourself to not take social media outlets so seriously, and remember that “for most people, it’s just a highlight reel of a very real and imperfect life”.

Social Media & Communication Article: http://millennialceo.com/social-media-changed-communicate/

Hailey Devine’s blog post: https://www.somewheredevine.com/2017/01/my-imperfect-life.html