SOCIAL MEDIA OBSERVATIONS & ITS MISLEADING ASSUMPTION OF THE USER
Recently I’ve been writing quite a lot on social media and opinions on it. I’m always very upfront that I don’t love to writing discussion topics. That said, once I get started, it’s a kind of cathartic experience that usually requires a good deal of trimming in the aftermath. It’s more about hitting the “publish” button that makes me nervous though. Why? Well, because of the very topic we’re discussing today. The discussion being social media mistaken assumptions.
DISCUSSION | SOCIETY SAYS APOLOGIZE WHEN IT’S WRONG. BUT LET’S NOT WHEN IT’S RIGHT.
I’ve had, in different forms, my own space for ten years now. I’ve been on Twitter since 2015 and on Instagram sometime after that. Twitter once was a good space (for me) where I “met” many likeminded fan girls. And that’s what we were, fan girls. We didn’t impress a political agenda on others. Or make someone think they’re evil if they don’t adhere to what is pushed by celebrities or the media.
It was the best of (Twitter) times and some of the best kinds of conversation (silly though it may be).
There’s this opinion out there that if a person doesn’t come on social media and take a “stand,” they’re tone deaf. This is actually the ill informed opinion. Or unkind at the least.
Just because a person doesn’t write something on social media, create a TikTok video or come on Stories to state a leaning, it does not mean they’re uneducated. This just means they’re choosing the who and where they share.
This is something I perhaps do take personally, so I’m sharing four reasons why below.
SOCIAL MEDIA OBSERVATIONS & ITS MISLEADING ASSUMPTION OF THE USER #SOCIALMEDIA #OPINIONS #THOUGHTS #SOCIALMEDIAALTERNATIVES #CELEBRITIES Share on XDEAR CELEBRITIES, NO THANK YOU
The first is, in no way, do I or will I take advice on how to live, social issues, health or anything else from celebrities’. Do I follow some of them? Sometimes (though rare), yes. Do I agree with some of the things they share? Sure. Does this mean they change my mind? 99% of the time, no. Do they sometimes give me something to think about? I’m comfortable with saying yes.
I also don’t think any celebrity or social media personality should come on social media and tell followers how to vote or degrade someone for not sharing. Share why you vote; share what it means to you; share who you’re voting for and why (if you want); and remind us to vote. BUT, don’t tell us HOW to vote. That’s for US to educate ourselves and to decide what vote best represents our values. Same goes for social issues or health.
DO YOUR RESEARCH
In line with our first bullet point is personal accountability. Another thing I see (sometimes) is that it’s a social media’s personality or responsibility to tell someone who to believe or what’s going on. IT’S. NOT.
That job belongs to YOU and perhaps to the people in your life who know you, love you and support you (because they LIVE life with you).
It’s NO social media personalities (favorite author, actor, and influencer) job to validate your beliefs or give you the “answer” of what or who to support. It’s YOUR job. If you don’t like what someone says, that’s fine. But instead of hate following someone, UNFOLLOW them, move on and enjoy life.
YOU DON’T KNOW ME
Additionally, social media doesn’t mean you know the person. Sure some share more personal stories than others. But it still doesn’t mean you know them in the way that your sister, parent or an IRL friend does. Just because we follow an influencer or celebrity doesn’t mean we’re entitled to know everything about them. We’re not.
YOU’RE NOT IGNORANT
Some accounts say that anyone who doesn’t give a headline news opinion suggests they’re ignorant. As someone who chooses not to blast everything on social media, I take personal issue with this. Just because I don’t share everything or given an opinion on x, y or z, doesn’t mean I’m ignorant. Independently thinking about what goes on or writing about things are two of the ways I process everything.
I’ll ask again, don’t make anyone feel like they MUST join the shouting on social media. If someone wants to, they’ll go for it. If they don’t, that’s also ok.
If you find yourself feeling lost in this muddle of social media hypocrisy, just know you’re not alone. We have more in common than we think. What’s sad is we’re allowing what we observe (which isn’t always truth) and a narrative to define how we feel and act. That impression is one only we can change.
What are your thoughts on these topics or social media pressure and mistaken assumptions? Do you like the direction or social media or find it repulsive? Do you see “bad” on your feeds? Have you ever been part of any drama? If you don’t like the direction, what do you do to combat it? Comment all of your thoughts down below!
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I try to keep things light and fun on my Instagram. I don’t get political or give my opinions on hot topics or current events, generally. I’d rather deal with those things in my personal, off-social-media life. If people then think I’m ignorant, that’s unfortunate. I follow a lot of celebrities, but sometimes it seems like they’re jumping on a bandwagon or feel like they have to take a stance on something. I certainly don’t need them to!
I’ve not personally seen people say it about my account, but have seen people say that “silence is violence” or if you don’t speak then you’re ignorant. I find that VERY disingenuous and unkind to say the least. I saw someone say on their IG a while back that “Instagram is not reality,” and gos0h, this is accurate. Just because we don’t say something on Instagram doesn’t mean we don’t have opinions or share those opinions. In case these same people who say this forgot, we do have IRL people in our lives. ;) I never used to share things on social (although I didn’t realize how many discussion posts I used to write YEARS ago), but I’ve shared more lately just because. I don’t know that I’ll take it further or not because like you, I love chatting about silly things or fun things, but time will tell. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts, Angela! :)