Social Media – My love/hate relationship

Part of being a blogger is using social media. Alot.

In this day and age everyone and their dog (literally) seem to be online. But the more people online means that there is more pressure to stand out and be found. Social media can come across as being a competitive game, who has the most followers or showing off your latest purchases. Everything has its pros and cons but I wanted to share my personal thoughts on social media.

Online, you can be anyone you want to be and I guess that is what people love. You can be true or you can be ‘fake’ it is entirely up to you and how you feel. On my personal Facebook I want to be connected to people I know, I want to be in control of what people can see on there and I definitely share more on my facebook but at the same time it is my least favourite social media platform. I seem to see more drama on FB then anywhere else. People seem to overshare personal events on there, I’ve seen so much hate and drama that it has made me want to delete my profile. That is where the pros come in. Family is a big part of my FB, I have family in Australia and it means that I can be in contact with them 24/7. Since Rory was born we have made some amazing friends online that are also in the Down Syndrome community, these people we would have never met if it wasn’t for social media. Having these friends that are just one message away ensures us that we can ask advice about anything at anytime and honestly this is sometimes invaluable. Sharing advice and just talking to someone can help instantly.

My favourite social media platform is Instagram. The beautiful photos that people create are incredible and I can only dream of my insta looking anything like that one day. Instagram motivates me more than anything else. I have been on there over 3 years and I don’t think I have ever seen any drama like on FB. That in itself makes me love instagram. Those little squares are like a bank of memories.

Self esteem and confidence can be knocked so easily online, seeing people getting new things and having experiences that you would love to do can make you think twice about yourself. On social media it is easy to hide your real life and nothing is as it seems, you can forget that someone could be completely fake and it can hit your self-esteem and confidence hard. Wishing you had what someone else has is a horrible feeling. Being judged and branded a name is another experience online which I hate! This one mostly happens on FB (what I find anyway) Mum advice groups are the worst, if you aren’t on one then a bit of advice and never join one. It is like an angry pack of lions when they get going. People hide behind the screen and feel like they can say anything. In a way it is the same being a troll in my eyes, causing someone to be upset over something you have said when in reality you probably don’t mean it.

As much as I hate some aspects of social media I don’t think I would ever delete it. It is part of my blogging journey, I use it to get myself out there and it is important to me. I don’t want it to become an obsession and I want to be able to detach myself away from it. Worrying about numbers and following is something I have done before and I have promised myself to not doing it again.

We have come such a long way on social media and it will be amazing whatever comes next.

What is your favourite social media platform?