Social Media is Making Us Childish

Yes, you read the title correctly.

I believe that social media is making us act like children.

People who I have met and cultivated relationships with recently, have been absolutely plagued by social media.

It has literally turned our brains backwards in time and given us what seems like the perpetual mentality of immature preteens.

I'm not saying that I haven't been affected by it; I definitely have.

The fact that we get PERSONALLY offended when someone unfollows us on Instagram is a little ridiculous don't you think?

We spend so much time cultivating our online personalities that we forget to foster the personality that actually matters- the one people see when they encounter us in real life.

How melancholy is it that we even have to differentiate between two personalities?

We have literally redefined friendships to the point where we are staking them in the amount of likes and retweets we get from them

So, how does this make us childish?

Well- has anyone ever passive aggressively posted on their Instagram or Snapchat story about something they're doing that is "so fun" and they promote that they're "having a blast" and guess what? You weren't invited.

It stings doesn't it? It hurts. You start to wonder what you did wrong, how you could have hurt them or upset them, what it is that you did in order to warrant them posting on their story to "indirectly" punch you right in the feels.

Now, many people might argue that it wasn't intentional on behalf of the person posting, but the majority of the time it is an intentional stab from the friend you are confident in knowing always engages with your stories.

Guys. The fact that ANY of that exists, let alone matters to us, is a huge red flag of immaturity.

A personal example of all of this is when I recently had to unfortunately back out on something due to circumstances that were out of my control. It really hurt me to turn to my close friends and say (not to their faces, but over a screen) "Hey guys, I'm sorry, but I have to back out." It felt terrible because I knew I was letting them down. I knew I was hurting their feelings. I knew I should have done it in person.

However- I had no idea that it would literally end our friendship because of social media.

I look at all of their social media posts and its our entire group of friends...minus Bailey.

Ouch.

At first I was extremely hurt by the Instagram stories and the Facebook posts that were passive aggressively pointed at me. I would turn them over and over in my head, beating myself up for the fact that I wasn't in their recent status update and on and on and on.........and then I realized....why are we acting like children?

Why did they find it necessary to hurt me by targeting me through a screen?

Why do they continue to exclude me from things and make it a point to post it online?

Or more importantly,

Why didn't I try to reach out to them so that we could cultivate our relationship in the real world?

Why did I get so hurt by these stupid little jabs through social media that I gave up on our friendship?

Why do I feel like I can't even write about this situation without receiving hideous backlash and outrage even though I miss these people so much?

Because social media is making us childish.

You didn't post about that one political event that I thought was important, or even WORSE- you posted about the one that contradicted by beliefs?

Unfollow.

You didn't like my selfie that I thought I looked amazing in?

Unfriend.

You didn't make an effort to comment on my story or give me a shout out on your Snapchat EVEN THOUGH I was the one who took that picture of you?

Unsubscribe from real world communication.

Why are these things so important to us?!

Why is it that we stake so much of our friendships in these meaningless little apps that are driven by our self-absorbed, self-obsessed, egotistical, jerk faced online personas?

Yes. Jerk Faced.

Like I said, CHILDISH.

I know people who are not in their teens, or their twenties, or even their thirties, but are are well into their forties who are starting fires over the most petty and insignificant matters because of their social media platforms.

When you die what do you want to be remembered for?

The way you were intentional about your community and the relationships you were able to cultivate?

Or the fact that you hit a million followers on Instagram and you showed that person who's boss by sub-tweeting and then promptly unfollowing them?

Ladies and gentlemen I have come to the point where the consideration of eliminating social media altogether is becoming more and more realistic every day.

It sucks up our time.

It sucks up our values.

It sucks up our real-world relationship's and turns them into dust and ashes.

But for some reason I feel like I can't let go BECAUSE of its importance to everyone else.

How will I get in touch with our younger generation and prove to them that joy and love and the intentionality of relationships are what really matter?

How will I stay in touch with all of those friends that I don't get to see in the real world anymore?

How can I communicate the things I feel I have a need to say without social media?????

All of these statements kind of feel like a security blanket don't they?

Childish.

-Bailey

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