Social Media: something to think about

Social media has become a huge part of daily life, with some even forming careers from it. Advertisers target those with a large social media following, and there is even a luxury hotel in Sweden that offers free accommodation to those who have followers in their thousands – so long as they post updates of their stay onto their account(s).

Image source: Women Outside The Box

It is no wonder that something so huge and influential is the cause of so much controversy. Internet bullying has been fueled single-handedly by social media and internet chat-rooms, and the term ‘trolling’ didn't even exist until recently. It seems that being able to hide behind a protective profile that can quite easily mask who you are and where you’re posting from can encourage people to speak out in a way they wouldn't dream of if they were in a face-to-face situation. You don’t necessarily have to deal with the consequences of your actions online as you would out in the real world.

It can be very easy sometimes to surround yourself with negative opinions of social media. To simultaneously scroll through your Facebook newsfeed whilst claiming that you ‘hate Facebook’ or that your newsfeed is ‘full of rubbish’ is the norm nowadays. Social medic has found itself labelled with a very bad reputation.

That being said, social media was made to allow us – as individuals, brands, musicians, bloggers or whoever we are choosing to be (social media gives us that choice if we want it)  - to have a page/profile/account that is completely our own. A place to market ourselves and our brands in any way we see fit, without any external interference. It is entitlement to freedom of speech at its very best.

How often is it today that we are able to produce something solely based on our own desires? Without the way that somebody else wants it to be, time, money or one hundred other obstacles standing in our way. On our social media sites, we have complete control to shape it and come across however we want too. There is always the danger of being misunderstood or of causing offense with your views and opinions, and of course there are rules and regulations that control the nature of the content we are posting, but in terms of our own choices, there is nobody stopping us from posting whatever it is we want to post.

That control, that freedom, at this time, is something that is massively under-rated and unappreciated.

It seems a huge shame that due to some peoples misuse if what should be an incredible tool social media faces daily ridicule and scrutiny. However every now and again when you feel so exhausted with social media you find yourself hovering over the ‘delete account’ button, it is never a bad idea to take some time to remember what an amazing and important platform social media is, and how much more positively we would feel about it if we only treated it with a little more of the respect that it deserves.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments!

Until next time, 

The Vivien Kondor Team