Social Media: A Rose-Tinted Perspective on Connection

Ah, social media. A place of connections that we want and many we don't. Exposure to new ideas, good, bad, and ugly. And a perpetual cycle of recognizing the bad, trying to make a change to our habits, and falling back into the scroll. Different variations of social networking create different problems but more unique forms of communication. I keep in touch with my best friend most days by sending pictures of silly faces back and forth on Snapchat. 

As someone with a lot of social anxiety and not a lot of close connections, social media is a bit of a lifesaver. I can show my friends and family things that are happening in my life and allow them the space to choose to interact with it. I never cared for following people who only posted about themselves, unless they are a person who I actually have some acquaintance with. In fact, I mainly use Instagram and Snapchat to communicate with friends, family, and even coworkers.

 I have never truly been affected negatively by social media sites, so I see a lot of positives.  Especially when COVID-19 was at large, social media was the easiest avenue of keeping in contact with people, or at least knowing how they were doing without a direct text that brings an obligation to respond. Because then you have the same awkward conversation over, and over.

You get to this point and wonder: What can I say? Do they even want to have a conversation? Perhaps social media trivializes our connections in the same way it aids them. The connection becomes so easy that it is no longer necessary to reach out with any substance. 

Unless you follow a maximum of, say, 10 people, and never look at any algorithmically generated feed, you're going to see loads of content from other people. Even still, you're only going to see what people want you to see. Social media sites might as well color themselves pink given the rose-tinted glasses perspective. Wouldn't that be cute? But this variability means you could be exposed to everything from adorable kittens to your biggest insecurities, and that's where things start going south. 

These social media giants, particularly with Facebook, Instagram, and the Twitter copy-cat Threads all being under the same head honcho, seem oblivious to their bad press. It's because people will continue to use them anyways! Native screen time restrictions, particularly to keep you from scrolling perpetually, would go a long way in my books. I would go as far as to say that they might gain more positive attention by trying to aid their users' mental health. Even if it means having current users on the app less often, positive influences bring people seeking better. 

As much as I'd like to believe social media sites care about their users, I think it's just as important for people to take responsibility of their own usage. And that can look different for everyone. But similarly to your real-life interpersonal connections, you have to set boundaries between yourself and the users around you. Upholding your boundaries and making your social media feeds a safe place is certainly not easy, but worth the effort.

Too bad you can't get rid of all the ads.