The other day my sister posted the question, "Why are you on Facebook?" on her profile page and it got me thinking about why I was using the platform except for the obvious reason that I seem to be addicted to it and an hour hardly goes by without my fingers twitching to log on so I can see what people are up to and check out their pictures.
I am on Facebook for a number of different reasons. 1. The platform is less intimidating than Twitter. 2. I get to follow pages and people I have an interest in, like the Social Work pages that give me valuable information on my field and cases that are making news. 3. I get to connect with friends who are far and get a glimpse of what they are up to without having to spend money on phone calls (maybe I am a bit of a cheapskate) but I have also build genuine friendships with people I met through Facebook, one such person is Allo Love. And sometimes the reasons for logging on aren't that wonderful, maybe I am just bored and need to find something amusing to grab my attention.
We all have our reasons but I have also noticed that social media has given people a false sense of strength and perfection. We post pictures of when we look our best, we check in only when we are visiting exciting places and we seldom talk about our lows therefore creating the illusion that we have perfect lives. It's this false sense of perfection that people look at and want to compete with it. We are looking at something that doesn't exist in reality, well at least not in that sense and we want it for our own lives when the people we saw it from don't even have it themselves. So we are wrecking ourselves trying to live a life that doesn't exist because pictures and posts have lied to us.
People are brave on social media, they say what they want, when they want to but meet the very same people on the streets and they suddenly have a mute button. People are happy and have perfect lives on social media, they wear expensive clothes and dine at the finest restaurants but behind closed doors they are lonely and don't have no one to turn to. Then they turn around and call society cruel and unsupportive but how can anyone offer you support when you showing us this perfection that we are struggling to attain ourselves? I don't want to be misinterpreted as saying people should splash their hurts and failures on social media nor am I saying the whole world should have a view of your entire world by simply logging on to Facebook but I am saying it's okay to show you are human, that you didn't wake up like this while your whole face is covered with foundation and concealer (is that what they even call it).
By all means post and show us only the parts of your life that you are comfortable with but don't use social media to hide from the reality that is your life because at some point you have to log out and face your demons. Live in and post in truth and open only the doors that you are okay with people having an opinion over. Because the truth is people will always have something to say and if you put it out there you can't be angry when people question it or have an opinion about it.
Whatever your reasons for using these social networks, do so wisely and ensure that you are portraying yourself in the way that you want to be known. Don't contradict yourself and don't pressurise yourself by putting yourself out there in a way that is not aligned to the way you are prepared to act and behave at all times.
To those who are looking on, don't ever assume that you know someone based on what they post because you will be disappointed. Live your life and run your race at your own pace, never base your goals and desires on what you saw from someone's profile because you will be setting yourself up for failure and misery.
Relationships goals and all this other crap we envy based on a picture that we saw on social media are not a true reflection of anyone's reality. Take it with a pinch of salt and the realisation that whether it is a relationship or a certain lifestyle you are striving for, they all have their struggles and not so beautiful moments and if you want to experience the perfection that you see portrayed, you must be able to handle the bad that comes with it too.
Don't be fooled by the false sense of perfection you see on your page. Live your life only as you can, with sincerity and authenticity. It's way too much work anyways to wake up like this and act like you never get constipated and frown in the toilet when you trying to take a dump. Be real to you and no one else and let that attract likes not an imaginary life that lures us to click the like button while you live with the pressure of having to maintain a lie.
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