The first thing I do when I wake up is snooze my alarm and then check all my social media websites. The last thing I do each day is check all my social media websites. Between classes, I check my Snapchat feed. During class, I check my Twitter feed, and while at lunch I check my Facebook timeline. As an inspiring journalist, social media is my friend. I check my social media sites so much that when I do not have my phone, I am on a verge of a mental breakdown. Don’t get me wrong, I am very thankful for social media websites. I moved multiple times within the past five years, and sometimes social media is the only way I can contact with on all of my friends who live 2,000 miles away. At the same time, there is a difference between healthy social media use and toxic social media use. While I originally used social media to merely contact with my friends, I turned into the social-media obsessed, ADD-diagnosed millennial that my parents warned me about. I started using social media to distract myself from my school assignments, staying up all night searching these sites, and continuously comparing myself to other people. I was so social media obsessed that by the end of the day, despite my accomplishments in the real world, my self- confidence had completely dwindled down.
I have always dealt with having ADD like the other half of the millennial population, but the introduction of each new social media has quickly turned my typical college-student procrastination into jeopardizing my future. The funny part is this extra stress that this excessive social media usage caused me is completely avoidable. Even as a graduate student, my parents, mentors and professors tell me to simply just don’t check social media when I am trying to study. The funny thing is, that is WAY easier said than done. I can lock myself into to RBD library on the Auburn campus, and I will still be on social media a guaranteed 70% time when I am supposed to be studying. Social media is truly addictive.
Cameron Diaz once said, “Comparison is a brutal attack on oneself, when you’re comparing yourself to someone else, you’re saying what you have isn’t good enough.” Every woman has insecurities, but it wasn’t until the introduction of Instagram “models,” Facebook likes, and Twitter likes, that my confidence hit an all-time low. Individuals now base their confidence on how they look, what they have achieved, and how many followers they have on all of these social media sites. The funny thing is, social media is a completely inaccurate and misleading representation of the individuals on it. I can post a picture of my new BMW, and my followers will automatically thing I am rich. But in reality, I pay the same amount as a generic car every month, and it is a lease! Some individuals even go so far as posting pictures of themselves in other peoples’ cars and expensive condos, trying to make their followers think something of them. Social media comparison has broken down the confidence of its users, and has caused millennials to lose the drive to actually work to have that car they want. Social media users are too busy trying to look successful, when they can actually go work their asses off and BE successful. Comparison is the theft of all joy. Remember that.
I’m not saying completely quit social media, because that is like telling someone not to drink caffeine. It is not going to happen. Instead, be aware how the incessant use of these social media sites can affect your grades, confidence and overall health. At the end of the day, just remember, anybody can be anything with an iPhone camera and a filter.