My digital life: Exclusion or inclusion?

 

Exclusion or inclusion?

The first feeling I remember getting from social media was jealousy. My friends were on  Musical.ly, Instagram and Snapchat and I wasn't . I wouldn't say it was because my parents were against having social media at a young age , even though it did have an effect. The biggest reason was my own fear towards social media.

I had heard all these horrible things that had happened to my friends on social media, from bullying to creepy men sending pictures and texts. Not taking in the fact that in school there were a lot of classes and interventions about social media. A lot of teachers warned us of hackers, catfish ers and predators on different platforms. I didn't understand why after all this my friends still chose to stay on these platforms and publish their videos and pictures. At the same time, I felt like I was being left out because I didn't know about the picture someone had posted, or I didn't understand why someone could get mad because they weren't Tagged in something. And because the feeling of being left out grew stronger than the fear I had towards all of this; I joined social media.  

I don't remember the exact age I was when I first logged in on Snapchat and Instagram, but I wasn't even a teenager. I thought now I could finally feel included and not left out without even realizing that feeling didn't go away it just changed its shape. I went from feeling like an outsider because I didn't know about the posts my friends were talking about to feeling left out because I didn't have as many followers or great posts as others. I started to realize that what I now was anxious about was something I found silly before, like not understanding why tagging someone was so important. It felt like the friends and actions on social media mattered more than what happened in the school playground, classroom or during free time.

I can't say that social media would all be bad and dangerous. I have made a lot of friends along the way but I have also stayed connected to old ones. I think the Corona virus showed all of us how important human connection is on a daily basis . For some people living alone, social media was one of the only ways to stay connected to friends and family. Thinking back, I don't know how excluded someone would have felt if they didn't receive a phone call or a text message but would have heard their other friends staying connected. Social media allowed larger platforms where multiple people could stay connected in real time.   

In conclusion, I would say social media has the power to be great and include people, but with that power comes a huge risk for exclusion. There is a very fine line between those two major affecters . It is hard to notice when your own worries and thoughts have poisoned the good in social media. In my opinion when you start to wonder more about the number of likes and followers you have instead of the number of actual good friends the use of social media should be valued.  

- sucker for social media, Cesilia