Once upon a time Social Media did not exist. These were days of simpler times, when people would sit on buses and read from books made out of paper, and listen to discmans, or have a conversation with a stranger.
Above, photo of strange slim plastic cases hold shiny discs which I believe play music if placed in archaic contraption. Rare machinery to stumble upon these days.
We used cameras with film and printed pictures. When we snapped photos of our friends or of ourselves we would take one or maybe two pictures in case one did not turn out. We would wait with baited breath for a week for when our photos were ready to be picked up, having no idea what to expect and only showing these photos to our close friends and family. We didn’t ask for feedback, we didn’t expect anyone to like or love our pictures, for they were simply taken in an effort to preserve a memorable moment. We frankly didn’t care if anyone liked our photos as they were for us and us alone.
Camera above is actually a real antique (before my day if you can imagine)
The selfie! A picture taken of yourself by yourself, sometimes also taken to include friends, enemies or a loved one.
Above is a classic selfie “no, I do not see the camera I am holding pointing at myself”… Ugh. That was me though, trying to win approval…
Today you can take a pic of yourself in a matter of moments and you can try over 300 times before you hit the right light, angle, moment, perfect smile, sparkle in the eye, and you look absolutely stunning and you look beautiful. You have friends who will like and love ❤️ and hey, wait a moment!!!! Three likes are you kidding me? Is that it? You look at Jane Doe’s pic who looks like a lucky lottery troll doll and she has over 127 likes, what the heck man?
Oh wow 😳 maybe people just don’t like me? Do people find my posts annoying? Maybe I look too artificial, maybe I should take this pic down and find a more natural pic to post?
Hey man! You don’t have to like me, but for goodness sake let’s support “Let’s Talk” and raise some money for Mental Health.
Before the days of Social Media, life was more simple. I have maybe ten to 15 close friends across the globe whom I would contact to have a good old fashioned chat with, yet I have a Facebook account with over 600 friends and I don’t need their validation.
How many social media likes you receive does not determine your value!!!
Most of us know this, but some how it still bothers me when I post something I am excited about and no one likes it! I am fully admitting, sometimes the lack of likes I receive hurts my feelings! Despite logic superseding this false sense of lack of validation when you share and no one cares, it brings you down.
Uh oh! Do you see what I see above to the right 16 notifications! What could they be? Maybe someone commented on one of my blogs, or maybe someone liked a recent status up date, or oh no 🙈 maybe someone said something nasty about a post of mine or disagreed with my opinion. Should I check? Oh God, I better check. Phew… It is all good stuff; just likes and kind comments. My Social Media Anxiety was through the roof then! (Shhhh, I still have not checked).
You may be asking, well Rach, you really have a hate on for Social Media so why don’t you just delete your profile, and I have thought about doing this, but I then have FOMO!!!! The struggle is real my friends.
It isn’t all bad. It can be a very good thing in moderation, and it has allowed me to discover a whole whack of relatives in California and even one far removed cousin in Australia! It is just I have been using it for the wrong reasons at times and looking for attention or validation through Facebook and Instagram.
We all know it is a means to display the best moments in our lives and it isn’t a snap shot of reality. However, it is proven that 20 minutes spent going through your news feed leaves most of us feeling a bit more depressed with our lives. You can call it “keeping up with the Jones syndrome” or Kardashians, take your pick!
I see my friend Wilma Flintstone with Fred in Paris sipping on fine wine eating Camembert in front of the Opera House & why can’t I afford a vacation to Europe? It is human nature & previous to social media I would only be seeing Wilma’s photos if I went to her house, but you see Wilma & I went to band camp together in grade seven and we actually don’t have much to do with each other in reality. Ahem, in reality…
Sorry Wilma…
Peace & love – Rachel
You Know Jacques! 
How true this is! I hate that I find myself constantly disappointed by lack of feedback or comments on what I post. I try to tell myself “it’s the algorithm” but truly I’m wondering if people just don’t like me, and then that turns into a spiral of other thoughts. Anyway, it was great to read your thoughts here. I feel the same way so often…loved the troll too lol
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Ha ha ha! Yes, the troll was quite funny, if only she had been correct! Have you watched any of the episodes from Black Mirror – there is one called “Nose Dive” & it is all about social media currency and it is spot on in the direction we are going. I think we all have moments where we share something we are proud of or excited about & it doesn’t quite yield the response we may expect. Strange days we live in x
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