Social media has always been a part of my life ever since I was a child. From the early days of Myspace to the current platform known as Instagram. The first time I loaded up my media wall and was able to see/communicate with my friends outside of school, whenever I chose to, it was mind-blowing, to say the least. Venturing on the internet, I would go on facebook, 4chan, and other message boards. Being anonymous on 4chan was a blessing, behind a glass screen, I was able to do and say whatever I wanted. Social media gave me the opportunity to create and refine multiple personalities with the different individuals I’m friends with on each platform.
When I was in middle school and high school, my presence online was much for active than what it is now. I would post/comment on people’s status and even upload a picture here and there. Being engaged with the community of friends was helpful for me since it gave me the opportunity to be more social with strangers than I normally would be. In all honesty, I made my facebook during middle school to see the “shit show” that all of my friends were talking about online; basically, a group of girls would just argue with one another and set up a location for them to fight at my school. On the comment section, people I know would gaslight them to do it and spread false information. It was interesting to see people behave like this since no one would literally say, “beat that bitch and her dead baby” in public. No one is that mean but since they were behind a glass screen, they could say whatever they want.
As time went by, I gained the confidence to post in a similar manner, never anything as toxic as egging people on to fight one another or dead babies. During that time I was extremely into basketball, a majority of my post would be of the Miami Heat since I was a fan of Lebron James. A majority of my friends hated him since eighth grade was the year they were going against the Dallas Mavericks. My post would show Lebron in a photoshopped image, dunking over the Dallas logo or throwing it into a trash bin. My friends did not find it to be very Texan of me and decided to roast me for it. “Quit being a Lebron nut hugger.” “He’s the biggest choke artist.” “You’re stupid for believing in him.” Much meaner things were said, these comments are enough to give an idea on how a lot of people didn’t like that I was supporting him. Even when I was posting about something entirely, people would find ways to connect Lebron to the post and a way to be offensive. It made me realize that my image was tainted and in need of a serious work around. I needed to clean up what I say and try not to offend anyone if I wanted to continue posting on here without the mob of Facebook following me. That day forward, I watched what I would share, like and subscribe to, the need to police myself brought a sense of discipline that will benefit me later on in life.
I purged my entire wall of Facebook and Twitter. On Facebook, I have about four post and six photos, just enough to give people a sense of who I am and what I love. Twitter is a bit different since I constantly retweet articles on film and news about productions starting. I always saw that as more of a diary or small thoughts that come off of your mind. There are moments when I think of deleting my accounts or making them private and whenever I try to do it, I begin to feel naked and unable to proceed. I think about how everyone has one now so I’d be the weird one trying to go against the social norm. When I was in my freshman year of university, I deactivated all my social media accounts in an attempt to focus more on school. In the beginning, it was easy, I didn’t miss it and all my distractions were taken away but, my social life was attempting to balance itself like a tightrope against a building, the relationships were difficult to invest in. One day I was walking to class and saw this girl I had my eye on for a while, she was pretty, soft brunette hair that waves alongside the wind, a light red set of lips that are chapped from the cold winter we were experiencing and a petite body that she would hide under baggy clothes. When I mustered up the courage to finally go and talk to her, the conversation started off well. We were walking and talking to her class about our major, hopes and dreams. She was cool and surprisingly engaged in the conversation. Once we made it to her building, she said how the class was about to start. Our goodbyes went on for a bit since I tried to utter the words, “can I have your number to talk so more?” She laughs when I finally do and mentions how her phone is out of service but that I can message her on Snapchat. At the time, I’ve never heard of such a platform nor what it was about. I was honest with her and said how that wasn’t an app that I knew of and if she’d be connecting her phone anytime soon. “Phone’s are a little out of my budget now, if you want to talk, download Snapchat and come find me again.” Just like that, the girl I was infatuated with disappeared. I never saw her again and think about the missed opportunity and possible partner I could’ve been with, all because I didn’t have the newest social media platform. I knew it was time to reenter the online world and become knowledgeable in all the newest media apps.
Rebuilding my online persona, I knew that I had to market myself to potential partners in the future. That meant each photo I took or shared had to be in clear quality, me doing a hobby that I love, and lastly, a photo of me in a presentable outfit. These three templates showed how I wasn’t a basement gamer, even though in reality that all I do. I needed to look active and engaged with my community to show potential partners that I have depth and am a suitable candidate to be a part of their lives. Comparing my online persona to my real self is a bit complicated. The idea of me is online but it’s a warped perspective to make it easier to market myself. I take the things I don’t like or rather controversial of myself and change it into something that’s much more digestible for the mass market.
One thing that I choose not to post or discuss with online, is politics. It’s something that I don’t have a mass amount of knowledge on so I believe I can’t give a fair opinion on any bills or orders that the president pushes for. At the same time though, I don’t want to offend anyone, especially if they share different views from me. I’ve known of few people who were doxxed by local twitter because they posted pictures of themselves wearing a MAGA hat alongside the border wall. While I don’t share those opinions, our current political climate makes it dangerous to be who we are, if you have an opinion that goes against the collective thought.
Whenever I post a status online, I proofread it countless times, making sure the punctuation is correct, that spelling/grammar is exceptional and that I’m direct instead of being vague. Normally when you scroll through your feed, you’re able to see mistake after mistake on spelling, especially on simple words! It’s infuriating at times and others it’s hilarious since it can give a word a completely different meaning. Twitter is a place where a discussion is had on an almost daily basis. Yet some people create an argument that is way too vague, causing most of the commenters to comment, “huh” or “lol, what.” The phrasing of a sentence is extremely important, especially when it’s on a sensitive topic that needs to be discussed.
The internet is here to stay, we as a society are attempting to incorporate it more into our everyday lives, from cell phones, kitchen appliances to smartwatches, it’s everywhere. There’s no escape the movement that is the online web. Nearly everything we say or do is recorded in some way. With the world being truly connected, the idea/application that is the internet is one of the most important things man has created. While social media can be a dark place that is filled with a mob mentality, it has changed the way we talk and even shows emotion to one another. There are dating apps now that show you a certain amount of pictures, location and a short biography of the individual and you're able to decide whether to swipe right or left on that person. All that power and emotion boiled down into the movement of a finger. Some people have found the love of their life on social media and new friendships as well. We can’t deny the importance of this creation. Having this application though creates a void in real relationships. No one asks out someone in person anymore, it’s all through messenger. We don’t post pictures but rather show one for 24 hours on Snapchat. We don’t have meetups for group projects, we skype in one another and use google docs or slides to create our presentation without the need for leaving our home. We are given emoji’s or reactions to showcase how we felt with a comment or photo instead of expressing a real one. Social media has turned the majority of its users into addictive individuals whose personality closely resembles a recluse. It does make life easier and I can’t diminish its importance on us, I would just like for the positive to outweigh the negative, as we have no idea what are the long-lasting effects of the internet and what it may possibly drive people to do.