Elizabeth Patterson
Bio
Just a girl trying to live her best life...
Stories (1/0)
Why I Gave up Social Media
Technology.It is a blessing and a curse. It is used to connect us or divide us. It permeates almost every area of our lives and most of us check our phones more than we drink water. It is a habit, hobby, and, for most, a necessity. So why would someone give it up?It started for me during the 2016 election. I, like most Americans, was glued to the news watching the craziest moments I've ever seen unfold in American politics. Everyone had an opinion. They still do. Which is great—that's what America is about right? Freedom of speech and expression. However, I was seeing my social media feeds flooded with angry, hateful, impassioned, closed-minded people (on both sides of the aisle) arguing over "Cheeto Man" and "Crooked Hillary." A lot of ALL CAPS arguments were happening in the comments section of almost every post I saw—people, who had grown up as best friends and even family members, were now at war. I found myself constantly feeling stressed whenever I would log on to any of my social media accounts, never knowing what I was going to see or who would be hating whom today.I couldn't breathe. After the election, I realized that I needed to do something for my sanity. I had started to see people I care about in a different light, all because of different opinions that weren't being shared with me, they were being screamed AT me. I came to the obvious conclusion that no one will ever change someone's opinion or belief in the comment section of Instagram or Facebook, and Twitter isn't fun anymore when your @s are full of people calling you names. Social media was created and designed to connect people and to make the world feel a little less scary and big. That's what it used to be for me. When I was in high school, Myspace was the coolest thing ever and the only stress I faced was who was going to be in my top eight (and what position they would be in—those decisions could make or break a friendship, am I right? :) ) and Facebook was the cool new kid on the block. I used to talk to friends and share the cool things going on in my life—it was interactive.
By Elizabeth Patterson6 years ago in 01