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 ---