Thoughts on Social Media: LJ1

 Prompt 1

Personally, I try not to comment on posts that my family members make that do not align with my politics. I do not enjoy arguing with strangers online, much less with members of my own family. I tend to mute, or unfollow rather than start drama. I do not interact with trolls and ignorant people that I observe. I try to keep to myself, and only post about significant events on my Facebook or Instagram, or share things that I think are interesting or funny.

When I first began using social media I was in high school. Back then I mostly frequented message boards that centered around my interests, like music and favorite tv shows. I also used LiveJournal where I posted about my interests and about my personal life. My Live Journal blog was the only platform where I interacted with people I actually knew in real life, while the message boards I strictly interacted with strangers. The internet was still relatively new and my parents were strict about internet safety. I did not reveal any information about myself apart from my first name and age to my fellow posters. I was incredibly shy when I was younger and I found it easier to socialize on the internet where I could keep a comfortable emotional distance.

                These days I like to frequent twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. I do not post often on any of these sites, but I visit them frequently and prefer to observe. I mostly use these platforms to keep up with family and friends, or people involved with my interests. I also use social media to keep up with politics and important news. I can get lost for extended periods of time on YouTube. I also enjoy sending funny videos or memes to my friends and family, but I do not usually find myself on TikTok.

Back then, I wish I had known how useful social media would be to me, especially regarding keeping up with politics and the news. The internet has evolved so much compared to when I first started using it, and I mostly used it for entertainment, rather than for educational purposes.

 

Prompt 2

I think social media has enhanced self-expression. People are able to share their creativity, their talents, and be who they want to be. You can find content on pretty much anything in which you are interested. Social media also allows people to market their talents, products, or whatever they desire, and expose it to a larger audience. Selfies are personally not my thing, but I enjoy the filters and other things that have been developed stemming from the selfie phenomenon. My young niece and nephew enjoy taking selfies with me using the strangest filters they can find. I like that the selfies can give me memories of our time together. Online image is something that is incredibly important to some people. For celebrities or public figures it allows other people to know more about them, and they can limit how they are seen by the public based on what they post. People can also present a false account of their lives by only posting positive, or negative things based on the narrative they wish to construct.

Rules are incredibly important for social media platforms. Trying to prevent hate speech and misinformation is an important aspect of public forums because it is incredibly common for people to hide behind hateful internet personas because of the anonymity aspect. Trying to restrict spammers and trolls is a difficult job and it is even harder if a social media platform does not have rules or set criteria that must be followed.

It is hard to stop from comparing yourself to others on social media. It is easy for people to present a false narrative and not be transparent about their true struggles, so it is simple to admire or compare your situation to theirs. It makes me think about that post from the rapper Bow Wow who posted a picture of the private jet he was supposedly flying on, but was later pictured on a commercial flight.

Quitting social media is absolutely a valid choice. With the political climate, and the difficulties all over the world, it can be overwhelming to be bombarded with negativity every day. It is hard to avoid the news and the bad takes that invade every social media platform, so just avoiding social media can help with that.