Living in social media's social life.

 Social media is a phenomena that seemed to have developed in 2000's but in reality it was created in 1996. The first ever social media networking application was Six Degrees, it was invented by Andrew Weinrich. The app had profiles, friend list etc but of course the features of the app were not as developed as the modern day social media applications, like Instagram, Facebook etc. This app was started in order to remain connected with our close ones as well as remain connected with our not so close ones. The usage of social media was quite simple and straightforward. People used it rarely and only used to talk to people that they did not interact in real life quite often. 

 I believe  the usage of social media slowly started to change in mid-2010's. It became less of socialising but more of show off, I think it should be called as "Show Media" and not "Social Media".  Now, people use it more to show off the things they have and show off the things they do not have. When I use the term "Thing" I do not just refer to luxurious objects like cars, planes, houses etc. Social media has come way past just showing off  physical things. We now show off abstract things. Abstract things like love, friendship, family, care etc are not just things that people require now to survive and feel complete from inside. But now this things are used for show off as well.

A social interaction cannot be complete without taking millions of pictures and videos. Taking those pictures isn't enough. You need to post them on every platform you have your profile on. It doesn't really matter how you felt during the social interaction but the pictures and videos you take should scream happiness and fun. If it does not, it means that your not "cool" enough. 

But what kind of content you post is not enough, the way you post also matters. If you post pictures in a certain manner, it shows your social status. The content needs to be posted in a perfect manner, with perfect captions and perfect filters. Everything that goes on your social media should be perfect, because if it isn't then your life isn't "perfect".A perfect social media feed is a perfect life, even if that may not be true. I may be posting pictures of a happy and luxurious life  but in reality I may be sad and broke. But that does not matter, everyone else thinks my life is perfect and that is what it matters. At the end of the day, what matters is what others think of my life and not what I feel and actually think. 

I honestly wish this toxic phase of social media ends soon. All of us feed ourselves with this perfect version of everyone's life and that has truly affected the way we look at our own lives . I wish back for the  time when people could talk, talk about their real lives to each other. Talk about little wins and losses they have had. Just talk, have real connections with each other, connections that weren't determined by likes we got but by how much we liked each other. 

Our generation is always praised for being the most resourceful generations. But what is the point of having so many resources with ourselves if we feel so lonely, and so disconnected with the real world. What is the point of all this, if we are just connected to the "reel" world. When can we really connect?When can we leave this technology behind and learn to  be real humans again?When, just when?

Thank You🤎

                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                          -MJM.