For so long I resisted the noise of everyone telling me to get on Facebook.
I didn’t see the point. How was it going to be any different to Bebo or Myspace? I’d been there and done that, and couldn’t be bothered with all the hype around this new social media platform.
Why did I need this ‘Facebook’ to keep in touch with friends and see what they were doing, when I saw them almost every week anyway?
Well, that was until I left high school and went to college. I studied full time to become a Personal Trainer, and during that time I made friends with some pretty cool people from my classes.
So I caved when they urged me to create an account. So we could all keep in touch after graduation. That was the only reason. And it was a good reason back in 2008.
Funnily enough though, no more than a year later, I had completely lost touch with every single one of those class mates.
When I started travelling, it then became a great way to keep in touch with friends from all over the world, and a place to store all my travel photos.
I thought, ok maybe this Facebook thing isn’t so bad.
Then the next big thing came to town. Instagram. I’d heard people talking about it. A social app on your smart phone, where you upload photos to a gallery and insert a small caption along with it.
Same deal. I didn’t see the point and it would be one more thing I’d have to manage. Until I started my own business, and all these new people I was hanging around encouraged me to create an Instagram account.
Because I needed to have a social media presence if I was going to succeed. You need to look successful and have thousands of followers.
Later I learned that all these “successful” people were buying fake followers and posting about their “rich” lives, when in actual fact, they were still driving mummy’s car, wearing fake watches, sleeping on their friends’ couches and working part-time at Bunnings.
That was back in 2014, and it appears much hasn’t changed since then.
It seems the world is consumed by social media. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat and whatever else there is these days.
SO WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?
Sure it’s a great place to keep in touch with friends and family.
But most of it seems to be hyped up news and people showing the overly curated highlight reel of their lives. Desperate to appear as if we have “made it” to the rest of the world.
For a while I fell into the trap of this compete and comparison world. Trying to fit in and make my life look better than it was.
But I grew tired of trying to chase the likes and the comments. Posting every day at optimum times according to when my followers were active, and trying to please the social media algorithm gods.
It was exhausting. Especially for an introvert like me, who doesn’t really like socialising. Give me a good book, a quiet space and I’d be happy.
It has now become a place where you have to pay to play.
When you simply want to see what your friends and family are up to, every second post in your feed is a sponsored ad trying to sell you the latest beauty gimmick.
I guess it depends on your intentions as to whether you think social media is overrated or not.
No doubt big businesses love the extra revenue it brings in. Some social influencers have even built a business from it.
I think there are certainly pros and cons to social media, but I also think it’s not the be all and end all. Everything in moderation.
Moon Lane Media 