My Social Media Headache

Some days, it seems like social media is taking over the world.

Am I being paranoid? Is Twitter secretly out to get me? …Okay maybe not me, but quite possibly every famous person who wants to share an opinion.

I still remember when DVD was a big deal, now we have too many electronic gadgets for me to keep track of. I got a Facebook account when I was 14 and excitedly posted pictures of me and my family and friends. Now I have Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr in addition to Facebook.

Social media can be an incredible helpful tool, but it can also be filled with negativity. Let’s look at the benefits and risks of so many social media platforms.

Benefit

Sites like Facebook and Instagram can help you keep it touch with friends and family that you don’t get to see every day, especially after you move out and move on.

Risk

Like we’ve been reading about lately, these sites can be addicting and consume our lives. It’s easy to scroll mindlessly, looking for entertainment but not really improving our minds.

Benefit

You can easily share knowledge. Whether that knowledge is your own life experiences or research you’ve done for school, it’s great to have so much information easily accessible through news articles on Twitter or fun surveys on Facebook.

Risk

Sometimes, people share more than you want. You may love them, you may barely know them, but people can post some uncomfortable things. It is a lot easier to type something on a screen and not feel guilty for being mean or judgmental, than perhaps saying the same comments to someone’s face. Be nice, be classy, and keep it to yourself.

Benefit

There are so many cool advertising opportunities now. I have a LinkedIn account for my résumé,  a Weebly website to showcase my work, and a blog to share my thoughts.

Risk

We don’t always need all the information that can so easily be found at the click of a button. We don’t need to know about the hottest scandals and celebrity feuds. We can do live without knowing what everyone eats for dinner. And honestly, the sheer number of personality quizzes are just a bit ridiculous (except for the Harry Potter quizzes, those are golden).

There are so many amazing and innovative ideas that have taken form these past few years. My younger siblings can’t even fathom life without Netflix and don’t recognize what a VCR is.

And that’s okay.

It’s perfectly fine for the technological world to move on and continue creating new things. But try not to get dragged down to the point where you’re on Instagram until 2 am instead of studying. Don’t obsess over celebrities on Twitter, live your life through Snapchat, or post vindictive political rants on Facebook.

Use social media to improve your life. Show everyone your fun morning hike on Instagram, use Facebook to congratulate your friend on graduating, retweet an insightful article on Twitter, and get a job through your connections on LinkedIn.

Stay positive and have fun sharing your adventures with the world…or at least your followers on Instagram.