Social Media & The Internet

• In the past year or so I've stayed away from social media platforms like Facebook and Snapchat but Instagram is pretty much the only social media platform that keeps bring me back to its grasp. I've actually come to the realization that it might be because I've always been a visual person and Instagram is all about visual. One of the organizations I follow is CNN because I like to keep updated on domestic and international news. I also follow Michelle Obama and an account called "powerofpositivity". I follow Michelle Obama not just because she is a former first lady but because I admire her as a woman and all that she has accomplished during her life as well as the service she has provided to her country. She radiates positivity and encouragement to young women all over the world to accomplish their dreams and her marriage to Barack Obama is one that I think most of us marvel at. After I went on my social media hiatus and tried to go back to it I noticed how social media platforms try and mold themselves to what it thinks you like through an algorithm. I thought that was kind of scary because in some sense it sort of takes away the control and power from the user. With this I thought I would make some changes to my account and start shaping what I wanted to see on my Instagram feed as opposed to what it wanted it me to see. Social media can also turn negative very quickly depending on who you follow and what they post so I started unfollowing negative people with out care and followed accounts like "powerofpositivity" who post positive encouraging posts of about life. In essence logging in to Instagram is a positive encouraging experience for me now. The people and accounts I have kept in my follow list all feed those sentiments whether it's by sharing photos of their smiling children, funny memes, positive day quotes, pictures of milestones like graduations or new job opportunities they all feed human elevation as opposed to spreading negativity. The best post I have seen lately is one that Michelle Obama posted where she is at Princeton attending college in the 1980's. In the post she writes about being a first generation college student and how scary the experience was for her in standing out going from a predominately black community (Chicago) to Princeton where most of the student body was white. She mentioned how surrounding herself with people that made her feel comfortable and confident made all the difference in her college experience. She shared how higher education changed her live profoundly and how even though college is hard it is worth it as well as advised students to be brave and stay with it. I ended up liking the post and it stood out to me because at the time I came across it I was very close to graduating from Linn Benton Community College. Finals were creeping up and I remember being so stressed about final papers and projects being due, I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. After I saw her post it gave me the encouragement I needed to not give up and tackle my task one at a time to graduate on time. I think social media is definitely a tool that has helped emphasize the power of free speech as well as right of assembly. A couple of decades ago we didn't have platforms such as the internet, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to name a few and so the only way to communicate our thoughts were face to face, phone or mail. With more technology came more power of communication, and I'm fighting the urge to quote Uncle Ben but it's true that "With great power comes great responsibility" which is what I think were now seeing with social media. Specifically in the case of Facebook and the several federal investigations it faces (no pun intended) not only over data and privacy but also how it was used to influence the 2017 presidential election. Sure it innocently started as a preferred platform over MySpace and it was a cool tool to keep up with our favorite aunty that lived across the country but when did it go from that to a tool where users personal data and privacy was breached as well as influencing a whole political system? All this with out them even knowing it happened! That is scary. Power lies in social media and until we all learn to recognize that and are responsible with that power we will continue to see cases unfold like that of Facebook's federal investigations. 

• In Sherry Turkle's Ted talk "Connected, But Alone" she mentions how we are far more connected now than we've ever been now that we have tools such as the internet and social media yet some people still feel alone and may even become more isolated. I think this is because through social media and the internet we've lost the art of interpersonal communication as well as under-appreciated how much substance it actually has to human connections. This is also a big reason as to why I went on a social media hiatus about a year ago. I noticed myself not being present and in the moment, instead a picture of my food or a funny meme became more important than me listening to what the person I was having lunch with had to say or me the taking time to appreciate I actually had a meal to eat. This is when I noticed that the internet and social media were hijacking the customs I had grown up with and I did not like the feeling. Looking back at scenarios such as the ones mentioned above, I think it made me feel rude, ungrateful and inconsiderate. I also noticed I had the power to change that. Sure, I did't have to go to extremes and deactivate all my social media accounts but when I noticed I would subconsciously look at my phone and scroll through social media platforms every 5 minutes, I decided going cold turkey was the best call for me. Digital gaming has never been something that has interested me, if anything I think I might have a "Bubble Buster" game on my phone for long waiting room wait times or downtime at the airport which all hardly ever happens to me. I spend about two hours a week on digital gaming and social networking, if that. Working full time and going to school I've found it a lot more productive to steer clear of digital gaming and social media. I'll log in from time to time but it's never something I let consume my time. I'll either delete the application or deactivate my account for months specially if I have a really important goal I want to accomplish and want eliminate all distractions I won't log in until it's completed. Doing this has helped me focus and spend time on whats important to me which is achieving my academic goals, spending quality time with my family, being productive at my job and improving my interpersonal relationships by really being present and listening.