Imagine the Pillow Fights
Hey, you there! Get off of your phone now. You’ve been on it fifty minutes already.
Okay, I know this might not be so obvious but there is actually life outside the technology that we hold in our hands every day! What, don’t believe me? Look up.
I’ve been a user of technology and social media ever since the beginning of time, from my first flip phone in grade 1 to my current iPhone 6s+. The type of relationship that we have been meaning to have with our iPhone is not anywhere close to what it is now because of social media. What about using Apple books? Or other more useful applications? The reality is taken over by clicking on that Instagram icon every day. That’s it. Literally.
But that can change.
I don’t have a grudge against social media, but I can tell you that there are no benefits to using it all day. Being a user myself, I can say that it has taken over most of my days. I mean, I’ve grown up with it. It has changed what I say, how I look, and who I am.
Social media is like drugs, addictive and deadly. Here is why:
It is the most convenient way to spend our Saturday night or any other night per se.
Because of this, I’ve been personally spending all of my free time building a decent social status, working hard for followers and a perfect social image. I would have to take at least 100 photos before choosing one that is decent enough to post on Instagram. Do you know how long it takes to take 100 photos? Don’t try; I’ll tell you, too long. And all that wasted time, for what? For people to like it? Aside from the wasted time, anxiety, stress and alienation are just some of the many negative impacts of social media. Nonetheless, we still fall back into its trap at the end of the day. You might as well be putting a bullet through your head.
Do you need more reasons as to why we should climb out of the social media quicksand before we fully sink in?
Okay, picture this. Imagine posting a picture on Instagram, an edited picture that you’ve worked so hard on. You have a good feeling that this picture will get at least 600 likes; your followers would love it. So you post it, and it gets 300 fewer likes than you intend it to get. So now what? You sit there, overthinking. What could you’ve done differently? If only you’d posted it five minutes later, or had made your eyes look bigger. Congratulations, you have failed to meet the “social standard” that doesn’t even exist. Do you feel sad, perhaps embarrassed? I’m sure you do, and I’m truly sorry it has made you feel that way.
Don’t you get it? Social media, our fake friend, only makes us feel worse about ourselves than we already do. We’re mentally scarred, as damaged as the survivors of the Titanic. Let me give you an example. According to childmind.org, due to social media, the suicide rate of adolescent girls increased by 65% between 2010 and 2015 (“Does Social Media Cause Depression?”). Being a Gen Z myself, I’ve seen many people my age around me get damaged by social media as they define themselves by appearance rather than character.
I’ve been living with two faces all my life, and I wasn’t smart enough to realize that my beautiful face on the internet is virtual. We all strive to fit into this “social standard” imposed by some idiot years ago, defining the impossible beauty that most of society strives for. It sucks to see how people are destroying their real body and minds to get as close as possible to an interpretation of beauty that is, well, impossible to achieve.
Often times, we forget to actually enjoy life itself because we waste so much time on social media. But is it really worth spending so much time and mind on a virtual platform that doesn’t exist? Let’s stop fooling ourselves with those 300 more likes.
Aside from generously providing us with depression, social media ultimately serves as a distraction to the real world. Really, the only thing we should do is to tune OUT of social media and give more to life itself.
Remember those walks on the beach? The old days of sleepovers and feathery pillow fights? The innocence in having real fun can only be achieved in real life.
Reality is the only thing that is real.
So please, hear me out. Let’s stop letting this meaningless obsession lead to an imbalance in our real life. Let’s focus more on indulging in every real moment. Let’s just give a break to technology for god’s sake; it will make us truly happy.
But who am I to tell you what to do? I’m just a kid doing her English assignment.