The oddities of social media and this overly connected generation

The social media generation

Millennials are the ones who started social media. It all started with us. Facebook in my day used to be exclusively for college kids. You would go on Facebook and see if that girl was single, and find parties you could go to. I can remember my first year at SUNY Albany and literally going on Facebook to find parties with random addresses and just showing up.

I know this sounds horrifying but you needed to have an EDU email account to even get on Facebook. There were no catfishing and fake profiles.

So we met lots of college kids by finding them on Facebook. We are the Facebook social media, whatever you want to call it generation.

In fact, I started out on xanga and myspace but I won’t even go there.

The Facebook generation

I even asked out my current partner on Facebook Messenger during the pandemic of 2020. Social media gave me the opportunity to ask out someone I vaguely knew on my team, with out even leaving my house.

Social media has created a world we never knew was possible

With new technology and resources come new oddities of behavior.

Social media is so funny because you can tell someone’s age while their social media personality.

Social media is so insane because it can be so useful and positive but in the years it has existed. It is also created this awful terrible side.

The Jekyll and Hyde of social media if you will

Dating and social media has been sometimes amazing but also the bane of my existence.

In high school losing my first love, you bet your ass I was on MySpace looking at his new girlfriend and her pink hair. Looking at her with murder in my eyes, in a way that no generation could understand before.

My parents couldn’t even understand because how on earth before social media would you have been able to see pictures of your ex boyfriend’s new partner?

Later in life I have loved following that ex partner and his new wonderful wife. Seeing the growth of his life and eventually becoming friends on social media, at least. It has shown me that life and time change so much. I’m so happy for his new life even though I’m not physically a part of it.

The thing for me with past love is once the raw emotions of the breakup wear off, that other love for me is there still. That non-romantic, but once best friend, love. Love. And when that returns, it’s nice to know what’s going on in that person’s life.

Being able to see photos of an ex happy is a true moment of growth and this sign of closure for me that I’ve truly moved on.

I understand some people aren’t like me and I’m well aware that I’m blocked from numerous accounts. Not offended in any way because you need to make social media your place of positivity if you’re going to engage with it positively. You create your social network and who you follow and what you see.

While the algorithms are different now, and I do see more things, I don’t particularly follow on purpose, I do get to allow certain things into my life and certain people into my life.

I think if something makes you sad or uncomfortable or unhappy, then it makes sense not to follow it. Staten Island or Pete Davidson made a joke in his most recent SNL song. I’m just pete– that he got off the internet because his therapist thinks it’s no good for him.

While his comedy hits a lot better coming from him, I love that. He said that because it’s so brave and honest. Comedy is often self-deprecating, and comedy is often real.

There been times in my life where I’ve had to get off social media. You don’t always want to see the highlight reel of other people, and probably wasn’t good to be so involved in seeing an ex while they’re moving on.

I understand people having to take a break from social media or some people not being able to be on it at all. I respect that and I think it’s really important that we see what we are capable of and that we create the environment in our lives we want.

Some people don’t want a digital life but I’m not embarrassed to say I love social media. I love to be able to see my family 3 hours away, the cool people I met at rugby socials sometimes dancing on bars together, friends I met far far away. There are wonderful people in my life who I literally may never see again in the physical form.

That doesn’t mean there’s not love there and there is also a curiosity. I want to know that friends did well and friends are thriving.

I mourn for friends from afar when awful things happen and husbands are lost and car accidents happen and overdoses and all of these things that I probably wouldn’t be privy to without social media.

We’ve all experienced awful things in our life and I’ve actually been able to connect to people who experienced similar awful things because of social media.

There’s something in the solidarity of understanding.

Some rules of social media

One if something makes you feel bad, stop following it

Two if something makes you feel good. Start following it

Three if you wouldn’t say something in person, don’t say it online

Four photos are forever