My social media experience, like most people, has had its ups and downs. I first started with social media after I downloaded Instagram in 2014. At the time, I was 11 years old and was completely new to the concept of social media. I had experienced it in brief moments beforehand, through watching family members scroll on Facebook. Besides that, it was completely new to me.
Now, 14 years later, social media has taken over my life. There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t mindlessly scroll for hours on various apps. Whether it’s Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit or Tiktok, if I get the opportunity to check these apps, I will. There is no self-control anymore. It’s just something that has become a part of my life. I am addicted to social media and I feel no shame in saying that. To be quite frank, everyone my age is addicted to social media to some extent. It’s crazy to feel that moments are only lived if they are captured through a phone, but this is all I see with people my age. It’s a sad reality that we all deal with and there likely isn’t a solution. We’re just in too deep. Take a moment and try and think of a way we could remove social media from our society. I’ll help you out, we can’t.
That isn’t to say that there is no good in social media. For me, social media has introduced me to so many new friends. It has allowed me to talk with celebrities and famous athletes and it’s given me many opportunities I would not have had if social media did not exist. So there is light within the dark, we just need to find it and heighten it.
