Social Media Reality

Do you guys ever wonder how much of social media is real? How much of the photos, status updates, tweets, are a real depiction of that persons life?

Those are questions that I hear all.the.time.

For this reason, and almost this reason alone, I don’t like social media sometimes. There are honestly two reasons why I don’t like it, that being one, and the other being that it sucks up my time. But there are also some amazing things about it as well, like being able to visit buzzoid, if I ever feel like I am not improving my online presence as successfully as I would like or even if I want to create a better first impression through social media. At least this way, I know that I have options. There’s more, so, lets dive in to it, shall we?

No-one can please everyone. No matter what. There are people on Facebook that write status updates complaining about stuff in their life, and some people see that as them ‘keeping it real’ and some people see that as them just complaining, and that they should keep it to themselves. Then there are the people that typically write positive status updates about their life. Now people view that as either ‘yay, so glad their life is good’ or, ‘man, they are full of crap’. OR theres the other response as well, the response of that person not liking you because they feel like your life is always good, and thats just not fair. So pretty much, no-one can please everyone. But does that/should that stop us from writing and showing what we want??

I think not.

I think that people are going to perceive your posts and photos exactly how they want to. They are either going to be happy for you that you are having a good day, or resentful of your good day. They are going to think that you need to stop dwelling on the bad, or they are going to be so glad that they have someone to commiserate with about their hard times. And to be honest, I don’t think that there’s much you can do about it to sway their thoughts. Maybe if you used an instagram bot called KENJI you would be able to obtain many more likes which could help increase your self-confidence about your posts.

I personally try to keep my social media accounts, this blog, my life outside the WWW very, very real. I try to be as transparent as possible. If I was to ever find a way to get free followers on a platform like Instagram, this is not something I would hide from the rest of my followers. I believe that transparency is not only a gift for you but also for others. It allows you to be yourself and frees you to share openly. It allows others to truly know you. To know the good and the bad. It allows you to connect with others in ways that you couldn’t if you weren’t transparent. So if I started out on social media and I wanted to buy verified Instagram account, I would say from the get-go that I have done because it’s all about the content and what you can offer, not where you’ve started. Now with that being said, there are still so many people that perceive me as fake. As someone who sugar coats life. There are many that think that I only post positive things on this blog and my social media, as to sway you into believing that my life is all rainbows and bubble gumdrops. But guess what? It’s not. And I never claimed that it was.

My life, everyday, has its hardships. Whether it be my family issues, my own personal issues, or random daily crap, it can all be hard. But…and heres the but. I believe that life is what you make of it. I know I am blessed, and I never take that for granted. I am thankful. I am grateful for my life. For the good and the bad. Obviously, the bad isn’t fun to deal with, but it makes me appreciate the good that much more. And for social media, I want to share the positive with others. I want to be an update, or an image, that redirects someones thoughts and makes them point out the good in their day. I am not trying to fake anything. I am trying to encourage. To uplift. To make others stop and think- be thankful. I am never wanting something I write or post to make others feel down about themselves or their circumstances. That is the worst feeling ever knowing that something you posted affected someone in a negative way. That is not my goal, and I don’t think its many others goals either.

So, lets be real. Lets post the real us. I think if you are someone who wants to post a photo of your daily routine- as simple as you loading your laundry machine, then you do it. If it makes you happy, but it doesn’t interest others- then thats ok. If you are someone who only wants to post super inspirational updates and photos, thats ok too. Others might find it phony- and thats ok too- because you can’t please everyone. And if you are someone who needs to use social media as a place to vent, well- thats ok too. Again, some won’t like it- but then again, some people don’t like ice cream {so clearly the universe can’t please everyone}.

The WWW and your social media accounts are only going to show what you put on them. Now, people will perceive it how they want to, BUT it is you who is in control of the content. So lets all try and remember that. Lets be as transparent as possible, but also take everything with a grain of salt.

Am I making any sense?! Sometimes I get on these rants and then I end them feeling like I just word vomited on you all. My point is, social media is a beautiful tool, when used right. It can be very misleading, if thats what the person is trying to do. It can also be interpreted very wrong. But, it can also be a great tool to connect others. It can create a sense of community. To foster relationships that would have else-wise never taken place. It is as transparent as the person wants it to be. It is uplifting and deflating {when someone misperceives you}. I think the hardest thing that social media has done for me is made me think-twice. I think twice about a lot of what I post. I have had some serious negative feedback from things. I realize as someone who puts themselves ‘out there’ that there is going to be all sorts of negative feedback from people that don’t know me in real life. But the thing that stings the most is when the people that do know me in real life, feel like my social media {IG, FB, blog, etc} portrays something that is not real. Ouch. It leads me to not always post the fun and good things happening, in order to not come off as someone who lives in the clouds. But I am done with that. From now on I am posting what I want. I hope that people can believe me when I say life is good, and when I say life is hard. That they will rejoice in the happy pictures but know that struggles come along side those as well. Because, if I am not being real with my own stuff, whats the point anyway?

What is your guys take on it? Do you love social media and find it to be a positive thing in your life? Have you ever had to step away from it because it was discouraging you? Do you feel mislead by some- and do you really think thats the truth, or that you sometimes are just misperceiving them? I would love to hear your thoughts. For two reasons, one- to see if I am not the only one who is so torn on how they view social media. Two- to know that people are still reading this insane rant of mine:)

And just so you know, tomorrow i’m going to Instagram a photo of me washing my dishes, complaining that i’m doing so, and end the caption with an uplifting quote…hope you enjoy it;)