SOCIAL MEDIA - SO ME
Social media is a wonderful thing. I love the opportunities it has to give.
At the same time it can be a source of much frustration..
When you have thousands of followers, you do not just post something that comes out of thin air in an inspired moment.
Sure, that happens, too, from time to time, but when you have something to say, you really need to put some thinking into it.
“Is this thought worth saying? Am I saying it right? Shall I put a picture or a video there? How long this should be? Is this the right time to post it? Will I regret posting it? Does this make me look in the right way? Am I overthinking this?”
The reason? Most people expect you to be you. But what they usually mean by “you” is the person, the digital alterego, they met online.
Social media drives us to make our lives look more exciting and happier than we usually are, because that is the pattern we see on our timeline. We see our firends at parties, on the beach, surrounded by family and friends. Always smiling, always happy.
These are just fragments of life that make up a narrative - a false one - in our minds.
Some people might think I spend all my time on ladders, painting walls. You would be surprised how much time I am NOT spending on ladders painting walls, but e.g. sitting in a dark corner with my laptop, churning out formal letters, emails, complaints, getting frustrated by learning and everyday life.. while trying to manage it in a very small place.
Sometimes I get emotional and romantic by looking at my digital alterego on Facebook, wishing for that person really being me: the artist who paints with light all day long. But that is not me. No one really is.
Everybody needs some real people, real friends around them. Likes and comments - however dear they are to you and however nice the people behind them are - will not be able to really cheer you up, to be really comforting or supportive. At the same time they have the ability to bring you down heavily.
Instead of throwing some likes, how about calling a friend or actually meeting that person for a cup of coffee, even if just for 15 minutes? You can’t reach that many people that way of course, but one doesn’t save the world in a single evening. As a matter of fact, you don’t need to save anything at all. But maybe, just maybe, you can save someone from having a bad day.