I used to be guilty of it as well: glued to my phone obsessed with the latest on my accounts. From Facebook, to Twitter, to a brief time with Instagram, I was into all that; though surprisingly I never got into Snapchat. When I was about 21, I’m not sure what exactly happened but I stopped caring. And just several years since, I am mostly not a part of social media. When I was recently dating this one woman, she was so into Snapchat that any photos she took she would only do it through the app. So if there was a photo she wanted to show me, she would proclaim “you need to get a Snapchat!” and said it would take longer to open up her camera to take the picture. It didn’t work out for us. She believed that she was missing out on so much if she didn’t have those apps in her life, which I can understand, but I felt people miss out on so much when they are on those apps.
Back in my early undergrad years, I was mainly on Facebook and Twitter; posting and getting updates on friends and popular people. But then I got bored with all that, and I deleted my FB profile and rarely tweeted. Perhaps a year after undergrad, I created a new FB account to mainly see how my old friends are doing. My Twitter would go on to be deleted, though it was on accident in this case, because I deleted my old email account which was connected to it. Even then, I hardly looked at it; except for sports updates. And I mainly use FB currently to get ideas of upcoming events happening around me. (Seriously if one of you knows an app that can do the same thing please tell me!) Instagram lasted about a week because, like FB, it was mostly unimportant posts that I don’t really need to see. Yes, your selfie looks good but that’s like your 20th selfie in one month! I eat, drink, do those same things too, yet I don’t feel the need to post it. Apologies if I’m sounding cold, that’s truly not my intention but I’m sure some of you know what I’m getting at.
I can’t help but think about “old me” and what will happen when my children or others ask about my life. The last thing I want is to have to pull out my phone and access my FB or Insta accounts just to show them my life, because that is where I mainly keep them. For if they are people I consider close, I prefer to show them on a more personal, intimate level rather than be a post on the internet. If I’m at a concert, vacation, or whatever I mainly send texts to friends and family, and will keep photos stored on my phone or cloud. Or I show them the photos in person when I’m talking with them. I sort of see the beauty of the physical photo albums now, and the craziness of how most of our memories are tucked away on the computer/cloud where at any moment they could be. . . deleted. It’s funny how a concept like social media was supposed to keep us closely connected, yet in a way has really pushed us further from each other. You ever notice face-to-face interactions decreasing? Like, actually talking to someone rather than sitting together on your phones. Maybe I’m just a stick in the mud about all this technology usage, but aside from people you know there’s something fun about striking up conversations with strangers.
But I’m also not someone who takes snapshots of my everyday life. I’ll admit I do have an EyeEm account, but that is purely for my love of photography (and there are some amazing photographers on there). I once thought about doing my own Youtube channel. It would’ve been a variety like gaming and vlogs, but as I got older I realized it’s not for me. Eventually I would have to stop, and if I’m the type to make daily/weekly videos about my life it all becomes the same really. Q&A videos, how to do/make this, a day in my life, etc. and though I said on here I’ll talk a little about my life it probably won’t be often. Because in doing this, I do hope it’ll help you and I in connecting with what it takes to start a business, getting through school, and enjoying life and being positive. One thing I learned growing up, and it took awhile to embrace it, was to not waste my life trying to be in the shoes of another. It’s fun sometimes to see what life is like for a celebrity, athlete, or friend but then one day you’ll realize and think; what am I doing with my life? It doesn’t mean you can’t draw inspiration from it, but you come first and foremost.
Back to social media again, some things are indeed just better to be kept personal. Not everything, good or bad, needs to be shared with the world; for those moments are memorable or special in their own way to you. If one is afraid of missing out on a friend’s moment being posted, they should call or text you personally to share it with you beforehand. Social media is a great way to stay in touch, and find interesting things online, but it was never meant to be a hindrance or excuse to not enjoying life around you or talking/staying in touch with friends and family. It’s okay to put the technology down and enjoy the moment you’re in. Or if you want to capture the moment, it’s okay if you want to just keep that memory to yourself or a select few. Every online account we have will forever leave a footprint from us; even the posts that I do on here. But outside of social media, we have the chance to leave bigger footprints from the moments we experience and the company we keep. Again. . . in life, it just takes effort.
Novatourist 