"I Actually Don't Hate Social Media"

Like most of you reading this, I too grew up with social media. 

My older sisters helped me set up my Myspace, my teenage angst era was heavily influenced by Tumblr, I had a One Direction fan account on Twitter, Instagram has seen my pyramid scheme era (and now my small business owner era), and I developed brain rot on TikTok.

That being said, it’s safe to say that I have been chronically online for the majority of my life; therefore, I have more than 2 cents to offer on this topic.

Has social media played the ‘toxic boyfriend’ role in my life? Absolutely. Has social media been a safe place for me? Absolutely. 

I am actually writing this blog post with a 'half full' mentality instead of the usual ‘social media is ruining our lives’ perspective. Because at the end of the day, what isn’t ruining our lives?? 

Within the past year I have deleted all social media apps, redownloaded all apps, deleted my accounts, created new accounts, and have detoxed sporadically. The overlying lesson I have learned is that I am the root of the problem (and when I say “I”, I truly mean the majority of us, but I don’t want to make that assumption about you in case it does not apply lol). 

Anyway, I think I just forget that social media is NOT THAT SERIOUS. 

The thing about social media is that we are constantly in each other’s business because we are constantly sharing our business (even if you don’t post on your socials, you are still in people’s business). And that’s okay! It’s just not okay when you make others’ business your own. 

So here is your reminder that your life should not look like anyone else's’. We should know by now that some people portray their life as an aesthetically pleasing happy go-lucky picture-perfect life. And others are so lonely in the real world that their socials are their personal public diary. At the end of the day, social media serves as a place to create. And you get to choose how creative you want to be.

Again, it’s not that serious.

I recently had this epiphany and decided to go back to my IG account (@of.thecoast) and unhide my like counts. I had all my likes hidden because my ego likes to see that a lot of people are liking my posts and it’s kind of embarrassing when only 5 people like what I posted. But then I thought, who cares??? As long as I like what I post, that’s all that truly matters. 

Just have fun and allow yourself to create what you want to create (or don’t and just admire other peoples’ creations). Support your friends, your family members, your online friends, and online strangers. Just don’t be an asshole. 

We have all become victims of our own making because of the invisible power we have given social media over us. Remember, social media is what you make of it.

Make yourself happy & make yourself proud. 

-Diana A.