5 Problems With Social Media

Here's the thing; I'm generally a fan of my social media accounts. I use Facebook to stay in touch with friends and follow along on big and small life moments. I use Twitter to catch up on news and find interesting articles. Instagram and Vine are my go to platforms for my intake of artistic pursuits and comedic gems. Pinterest and Polyvore help me organize the glamorous life I wish I had. So when it comes to critiquing social media, I have to remind myself that I am still an avid consumer of social media products. That being said, it's not difficult to find 5 problems with it.

1. Success and Popularity

Likes and favourites don't actually equate to success or popularity and still we use them as a metric for these ideas. Alone, this may not be a huge problem, but when success and popularity are used so often to define happiness and self-worth, not having a like on your last post about finding the perfect chilled kale recipe (#blessed) can be devastating.

2. There are too many platforms.

I have had four different people explain SnapChat to me and I still have no idea what it is, what makes it special, and why I need it. That's true of so many social media platforms out there. Hell, my phone has no less than ten apps that are of a social media variety, taking up a ton of space on my phone. And I'm just a casual user of most. How do avid social media-ers find time to keep up to date and update on each?

3. It's freaking addictive.

Even as a casual user of social media I would say I spend at least and hour or so every day reading social media sites and apps and become disappointed when there aren't new posts to read or interact with after I've checked a site for the 10th time in a day.

4. Privacy

There is no privacy on social media. If you think there is, you're deluding yourself. And yet we all still insert daily updates on our lives, pictures of our families, friends, pets, children, wardrobe choices, restaurant habits, vacation destinations, hopes, and dreams. Free for companies, governments, friends, enemies, stalkers, and blind dates to sift through for information to use and exploit. But did you see this totally adorable picture of my cat?

5. It's ruining real life social interactions.

I remember being one of the last people to embrace texting in my friend group. I thought it was ridiculous to send a text when I could just pick up the phone and talk to someone. Even now, if a text is going to be really long or overly complicated, I just call. But now, I am sent requests to download Facebook Messenger almost daily from friends who use it rather than texting and I'm just sitting over here thinking, "I DONT WANT ANOTHER FRIGGIN APP ON MY PHONE WHEN I CAN JUST TEXT YOU!!"And with our heads continuously bowed over screens reading our social media sites, I don't remember the last time someone at a bus stop even smiled in my direction let alone comment on the weather or how late our damn bus is, again!


**************************************
This post is a part of my 30 Days of Writing Challenge. In an attempt to make writing a habit, I'm challenging myself to writing something everyday for 30 days. Inspired by countless posts I've seen on Pinterest, I've chosen a random list of 30 writing prompts that I'm going to use. Hope you stick around for the month of January to see what I write next!