Social Media from a Teen's Perspective

As much as I hate to admit it, I spend way too much time on my phone/computer/TV. I feel like a lot of us probably spend too much time on our devices. Specifically, I spend too much time on social media, especially Instagram. It's not just the act of scrolling through my feed that I waste time on, I also think about it when I supposed to be doing other things.

This post isn't a, "let's trash social media," blog post. Especially since half of us will be on YouTube again within the next five minutes. Social media has a lot of benefits. It brings people together, it builds communities, and it offers people a platform to be creative and share their interests with the world.

The reason I'm writing this post is to discuss my point of view on social media, how it benefits and creates disadvantages for writers and artists in general, and some ways we might be able to fix these problems and make platforms less harmful and more helpful and encouraging.

When it comes to social media, there are a lot of things we can't control. On Instagram there's an algorithm. Everyone's been trying to figure out a way to cheat the system and get more engagement on their posts since this platform first came out. Likes, comments, and engagement can sometimes be all we care about and when I find myself sighing because these numbers are, "too low," I wonder what has come over me.

It takes a minute, but when I do return to reality, I realize just how annoying and frustrating it all is, and I know I'm not the only one who thinks like this from time to time. I compare myself and it sucks, but one of my goals for the new year is to stop doing this!

I don't remember feeling like this when I first started my social media accounts. I don't remember the pressure. I think that's because as I've grown my accounts I've developed a sort of expectation for myself. This seems normal because as you learn more about something or become better at something, you usually hold yourself to higher standers. Why would I want my posts to go back to getting 30 likes when the last 5 have gotten 40? It all makes sense.

I know platforms like Instagram were talking about getting rid of likes altogether. I'm kind of divided when it comes to this matter. On one hand, it would partially eliminate the comparison game we seem to play. On the other hand, likes are a way to measure what people like and connect to and that could harm accounts who are trying to use their platforms to share their writing.

When I look at my social medias, I usually don't look at likes. What gets me is comparing my photos to other peoples'. How do they make them so perfect? What editing tools do they use? Are these even their photos? As a writer, how do I create a beautiful profile, but not limit my creativity? Why do I have all of these questions?

At one time or another, no matter how much people may dismiss it, someone has got to you. They said something or did something or hurt you. Whether it was an accident or on purpose, it hurt. Social media is gateway for this. It happens every day. I don't think we can live without social media in this day and age. I don't think it's going to go away and maybe I'm wrong, but I think things are only going to rely more on social media as we move forward.

There are both pros and cons of social media, but it's now a part of our society. It's not going to go away completely, but I think if we could limit ourselves, we might all be a little happier. I know that's really hard to do, especially if you're trying to build a brand or platform for your writing. You have to spend time making posts and taking photos, but we also have to look at the bigger picture. What's more important to me? The key word in there is me.

You can't always put social media first. You have to live your life. Do something you love doing. Spend time with someone you love being with. Throw your phone out the window. Jk please don't do that.

We cannot change the importance of social media to our society, but we can change its importance to us. It's not bad, it's good in small doses. It's not evil. It's not going to turn us all into robots or completely overtake our lives. Those things just happen in sci-fi movies.

Social media is an advancement in our society and like all thing, it has pros and cons. When I find myself asking questions and comparing my photos to other peoples', I try to go back to my roots and to go back to the things I love posting about. What kind of pictures do I enjoy taking? How might I enhance them to make them more intriguing or relatable to others?

The trick to social media is to try different things. There are always trends that rise up and they usually rise up because people like them. Experimenting with your account is the best thing you can do.

I hope this blog post helped you in some way or gave you some inspiration. What are your thoughts on social media? Leave a comment, and don't forget to subscribe!

It's been a pleasure writing for you and until next time—stay weird and stay writing. - Lexi