The Social Media Age

The world in which we live in is very different today than it was 10 - 20 years ago.

So much change captivating the world. A lot of the change which has occurred over the past few decades has been regarding technology and, in more recent times, social media.

When I was 12 my two main forms of communication was BBM and MSN. Social media meant talking with your friends in a way that wasn't texting. It meant changing your personal message to how you were feeling and changing your name to include whichever of your friends you happened to be with followed by a heart emoji that you had to copy from someone else's BBM name.

Nowadays 12 year olds have everything; Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram. This isn't a 'I was never allowed these things when I was that age' rant because these sites simply did not exist, either that or they were not mainstream. Maybe social media wasn't what it is now but I for one am glad. I'm glad the only social media embarrassment I get is from my 2012 Facebook posts about how great my day was with my bffs and not from a 2013 Instagram post where I now realise I look utterly ridiculous in my crop top on a far from summers day.

Unfortunately the rise of social media has led to the downfall of our honesty.

Instagram is a prime example for this and I am a victim of the lies. Scrolling through my feed on a regular basis means relationship posts of how perfect a persons relationship is despite only recently getting back together following their third split. It means seeing the gorgeous views of someone's holiday somewhere exotic. It means seeing how flawless a person looks and leads to you thinking 'wow they are so much prettier than I will ever be'.

But most of all, it means a carefully selected group of photos which allows an outside to view your life as perfect. Or as indie. Or as picturesque.

I don't see these posts and question the people behind it. I accept what is put in front of me. I believe that these people really have perfect lives and I fear that this will never be me.

In a bitter, happy-loathing way, I want to see the negatives. I want to see the fights, the 3am sadness, the upset. I want to see that people are still human; that it's not just me having a bad time.

Because no one wants to admit that life is crap. It's an unfortunate fact of life that not everyone wants to accept. It's not because they are self-loving, positive hippies, it's because, in a world where you get to choose what others see, why choose the bad stuff?

It's dangerous; convincing yourself that life has to be an endless stream of great, Instagram worthy events. You'll fool yourself into believing that it isn't living that is important but the physical representation of it which exists through your social media accounts.

Obviously you can't let people know everything about your life (unless you're on of those annoying people who literally takes to Facebook for anything from a Chinese takeaway to your opinions on this weeks Strictly Come Dancing) which is where social media really is our friend. Only highlighting to good or the bad and not fussing over those boring and uninteresting days we all have more often than we'd like to admit.

But there is one thing which saves me from the despair of immaculate Instagram posts with a group of friends who I don't have, the Facebook check ins to exotic destinations, the posey and more-happy-than-it-is-actually-possible-to-be Snapchats and that is Twitter.

Whether its reading new theories on The Missing, finding out the latest drama in someone's friend's-sister's-daughter's love life or reading debates between feminists and meninists, Twitter truly is your guy (let's just assume Twitter is male.) Whatever the use, Twitter is entertaining, informative, amusing and, above all, it is honest.

Twitter for many acts as their safe haven; a place they can express their emotions no matter how dark and negative as well as sharing their best days. Who wouldn't want to see how especially positive someone is feeling today, does it not just fil you with joy?

Brutal honesty is a commonly seen thing, posts are littered with others giving their opinion, there are fewer lies.

If you were to scroll down my Twitter feed it would largely consist of tweets about the following: dogs, Jack, my blog, feminism (in one form or another), recent news stories, my friends, my family, music, films or books. Because that's who I am, away from the perfectly portrayed life on Instagram.

Twitter is the harsh reality of the social media world. Not everything is glorified; it doesn't need to be, people on Twitter don't expect a romanticised idea of life. It's the real world. Or as close to the real world you can access in the modern age.

The growth of social media has altered our values, our expectations. There no longer is any point in talking about mundane, daily occurrences. Importance now lies within how your strengths are promoted and your flaws are kept hidden, developing a frightening world where perfection is dominant and making mistakes is shunned, forgetting that, at the end of the day, we are only human after all.

--- Aimee ---

The (Very) White House

Since life pre Donald Trump is soon to be no more there is uncertainty in the air for what is yet to come. And the rest of the world is watching America experience the calm before the storm which will destroy America; whether that's due to Trump himself or his loyal supporters.

Unfortunately the future is no longer looking like the altered Utopian presented on our screens with the release of Back to the Future 2 in 1989. Instead the future is looking dark, frightening and bleak; especially so if you are American.

I really fear for the future of humanity when a country so great and wonderful (or so it claims) as America elects a racist who actually believes you can rid of 3 million people because 0.006625% of their religion are extremists and therefore a threat.

In times like this you really do have to ask yourself 'Are there really people out there who believe this?'

One Trump supporter stated that stopping all Muslims entering the country was the correct action to take because 'we can't identify what their attitude is'. Funny, I've never heard anyone talking about kicking white teenage males out of the country because some of them cause mass shootings? Especially shocking when you realise that 94% of terrorist attacks in America since 1980 have been carried out by non-Muslims.

If you have been active on Twitter this past week since Trump got elected then you would have been present with real life scenarios that have surfaced. Muslim women fearing wearing their hijabs in public, women being sexually harassed following Trump's delightful phrase 'grab her by the pussy', people of different ethnicities being told to 'go back home'.

The irony is, most of these people are 'home'. They are American citizens or as American as someone can actually be considering that, excluding the natives, all American's are immigrants but Trump, along with many other 'Americans' seem to ignore this in the same way that they ignore the fact that Trump's wife is also an immigrant and, for a certain period of time, was an illegal one too.

It's disgusting really, how someone can get away with so many racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic and discriminatory comments and still be given power. I'm pretty sure that, if fewer than a handful of those comments had been made by almost anyone else there would be severe consequences. But he's the person the people want I suppose, although which people that is I remain unsure of.

In late October The New York Times released a list of all the people, places and things which Donald Trump had insulted via his Twitter account. That list came to a total of 282. Those 282 things included; journalists, CNN, Forbes, protesters, Germany, Britain, illegal immigrants, Whoopi Goldberg, Samuel L. Jackson, television commercials and Obamacare.

I just want to know how. A) I want to know how it is even possible to insult so many things - surely no one hates the world that much? B) how someone can insult that many things and still have people voting for him.

In a world where the ice caps are melting, animals are losing their homes and sea levels are rising; America have elected a president who believes climate change is a hoax created by the Chinese. So well done America, at least we can give Brexit a back seat for now.

--- Aimee ---

A Post for October

As I led in my bed on September 30th I decided I would spend my October documenting (on my phone as is the modern age) each occasion that I found vaguely interesting. So, hopefully I have actually done something interesting this (coming) month which is worth writing about but, more importantly, worth reading about too.

It was a busy month. Not busy as in forever-doing-something-with-no-time-to-enjoy-yourself because, let's face it, I will always find at least 6 hours a week to watch and re-watch comedy shows on BBC iPlayer (don't lie, the BBC has the best range of comedy shows.)

I went to London (which I wish I visited more) as part of my Travel and Tourism coursework which (thankfully) was not the terrible disaster which I feared it would be and, once we realised that District and Circle tubes weren't the same, it all went fairy smoothly. The day would have likely been considerable less enjoyable had I not got to spend it with Grace who managed to save my sanity with the macaroni cheese topped with jalapeños I stumbled upon in EAT assisting the positive nature of the day.

This trip came following my day out a LEGOLAND (yes, little miss sociable right here) for a friends trip which was a very, very cold day which was not helped by idiotically deciding that the rapids were a great idea. My saving grace that day was definitely my Quorn chicken fajitas which were literally the nicest things I have cooked, ever.

Top tip to anyone planning on going on two consecutive school trips; don't. It is very tiring and there is far too much walking involved.

Aside from London, Grace and I also went for a well earned Nandos (even my Quorn chicken fajita can't beat their veggie burger with garlic bread and medium Peri-Peri sauce) and lovely little shop (although I have no recollection of buying anything but I know it was primarily charity shop shopping) on the last day of term before she ditched me by spending her whole half term in France (cheers babe.)

I had my first insight into university life by visiting Wolverhampton, Canterbury Christ Church, Derby and St Mary's and, my, what an experience it was. I absolutely loved absorbing the positive atmosphere of places where I may end up in under a years time. Despite the tremendous amount of walking involved, the days were wonderful (with thanks to my parents' ridiculous humour and jokes which honestly made me feel like I had taken my kids on a day out. And, although I am so very excited to start uni next September (providing I don't majorly screw up my A-Levels this year) I can't help but reject the idea that I'm actually ready to move out and become largely independent.

Part of me would love to believe that I am ready, that I will be able to face any challenge given to me and that I really want to start my future but, another part of me is insistent that I'm still secretly an 8 year old who likes baking cakes and stroking dogs which, to be honest, I still do. The worst part is that the excitement I have for university now will drag on a whole 10 months until I actually get to go and experience university life.

I watched Trainspotting for the first time also which, although it was very heavy and highly confusing, was a brilliant film (but now I'm sad that I won't 18 by the time the second one comes out in January because the trailer looks AMAZING.) If you haven't seen it, you need to watch it although you probably shouldn't if you are very strongly against drug use because that is pretty much 97% of the film.

Half term also happened which meant three things; a) reading and essay writing, b) a chance to see Jack and c) a spontaneous shopping trip (and who doesn't love one of those?) I really did mean to watch more films that I hadn't seen before (which I probably should've done considering I borrowed about 8 from my neighbour at the beginning of half term) but it just didn't happen. I did finally get round to starting George Orwell's 1984 which I have been meaning to do for literally months and, so far, its everything I hoped it would be and more (no spoilers please I've started it but haven't got much further than that.)

One of the highlights of the month was definitely travelling to Southampton to visit Jack (twice) even if the first train journey was one of the most stressful and busy journeys in my life. But the travelling was very much worth it especially with the warm welcome I received from Jack's flatmates. The three day stay I had, assisted by a cute cinema date to The Girl On The Train (which was amazing despite it's 44% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and it's lack of similarity to the book at points) was pure bliss even if I did have to watch The Apprentice.

I also got tickets to see All Time Low which I am super excited about but it was the most stressful half hour of my life. I have decided that I do not like ordering tickets as soon as they go on sale because websites are crap and stress levels are high but I guess it's just something I'll get used to and, hopefully, more comfortable with.

Less exciting things also happened like work and netball which I figured I'd give a mention anyway just so it seems that there are other things I do besides from watching TV and visiting people and places. And I did see various people also such as my dads friend who visited for a few days and some family friends who cooked a lovely roast and providing an evening full of happiness

Near the end of the month I managed to actually make some new friends (I know, who'd have thought) on a lovely evening with those whom I already adore. It was so nice to feel comfortable around new people and actually be told such nice things about myself which really gave me some confidence which I have needed recently. It was only a small thing but it made me sure o the fact that, around the right people, I really will be loved and cherished.

I'll admit, looking back at it now it was a more exciting month than I thought it would be but I am glad it was as action-packed as it was because, on the whole, it was a really good month.

--- Aimee ---