Living in social media
Do you remember life before Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tiktok and whatever other social media exist today? Was life better and simpler. Most of us might say yes. But social media had this proverbial notion, bringing us closer. Well that was bullshit**. Now Facebook itself is changing its name along with the narrative.
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Ok, to be fair I am not here to bash FACEBOOK. Social media is an addiction I myself a part of. Years ago I really didn’t wanna get sucked into social media but I gave in. The experience so far, you guessed it dramatic with no substance mostly. Don’t get me wrong, it was fun and somewhat relevant at times.
Distraction or influential?
Social media could be influential, that influence could be both good and bad. In the recent years it seems social media gave platform to voices that are more self-serving and influential with an agenda. Seems social media became a machine rather than a platform.
Social network has made us more antisocial. Social media lets us share our opinion with the world, no matter how absurd it could be. In recent years it’s less about engaging with others and more about propagating.
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The purpose of this particular blog isn’t to criticize social media platform such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. Rather change our perception of the overall impact of social media. What if we read everything on social media without reserving judgment? Yes, without judgment. I’m not suggesting something from my high horse, I often read comments from strangers and take it personally. How ridiculous does it seem? A complete stranger somehow offended me with his comment, which very likely wasn’t even meant for me.
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A great motivational speaker and author once said, if we look for things to be offended we will find them. So what if we tried to eliminate seeking distractions that could actually offend us for no valid reason? Can you imagine how free we would feel? What if we read posts and if we disagree we merely move on?
Discussion not argument
When reading or responding our initial instinct is to be defensive. But let’s not. Even if it feels it’s personal or even provocative. First and foremost, with practice each and every day I am learning to be less reactive. What I mean is if I read something or hear something I don’t care for I simply focus on not reacting to it. It’s not an easy task. In the beginning it seemed impossible but I had to expand my perception.
Let’s take our most recent obsession with certain celebrity lawsuit or a billionaire attempting to purchase Twitter. The old saying; “garbage in garbage out” is shockingly fitting to social media impact.
It’s not easy to ignore everything that could bother you. But it is possible to gradually choose how we react or if we react. What I mean is instead of being offended or upset by something that is merely an opinion we could just move forward without giving too much thought.
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Tailor social media to your needs
Social media serves a purpose, it doesn’t control us. It gives everyone a platform, it could be both good and bad. Well recent years have shown it is more good than bad. But one by one what if we turned it around. We could disagree intelligently and yes respectfully. There are so many good examples of good and decency on social media as well. And focusing on that more often.
It certainly won’t be an easy approach but it would be an impactful one. Based upon what has been happening the world needs more kindness, let’s use this virtual tool to spread it.
Final thought
Social media has become an influencing machine. We could choose to be kind and others may follow. We could disagree with one another but remain respectful. The world all around us starving for kindness, let’s use this platform to spread kindness instead of anger.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
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