by Anne Suarez
There is no doubt that the social media is one of the most powerful tools we have today. It has changed the whole game of life. Your voice can be heard by the whole world simultaneously without even speaking a word; your feelings and displeasures in life can be felt thousands of miles away without you even showing it. It’s like the world has been simplified into this one ball that anyone can have at the palm of his or her hands. But despite all these pros and advantages one can have in a single click, I cannot help but think about how powerful it is to change us.
Everything has been made to complete us. There is Facebook to let you know how much friends you have and groups that you can easily join. Twitter is there to make your life an open book and also serve as your personal psychiatrist to whom you can vent out whatever it is that you want to talk about. Instagram is there to let you know that your pictures are worth liking. But for me, these social media applications are merely a front to who or how we want others to see us. Before Facebook was invented, friends are earned through moments shared together in real life and not by simply clicking that button that is nothing but a means of collecting strangers that you call friends. This Twitter app has encouraged people to believe and hold on to what Miley Cyrus said in her song that goes “It’s my mouth I can say what I want to.” This Instagram made people believe that with the right filter, the right angle, and the right amount of vibrance, you can receive a thousand likes, even if your hot body and slim figure was just a product of the liquify tool.
We have given too much power to social media to the point of it being able to change who we are, to define us, and give us a whole new identity. It is so easy to be famous as it is to become infamous. It is so easy to become a “fitspiration” as it is to be judged as “photoshop queen”. Why is it that many think speaking in English in social media is cool and susyal while speaking in Tagalog it’s baduy. Why is it that we post pictures of working out in the gym when in real life you never lost a single pound? Why is it that we tweet it when we are in Sofitel but never when we’re in a fastfood? Why is it that we post pictures of tons of shopping bags when in fact it’s just one piece per one bag because you asked the cashier to do so? Why is it so important to us to look fabulous, rich and famous when in truth, everyone is just as equal?
My point is, social media is great and all, but are we going to let it change us and wait for us to become this narcissistic-social media-obsessed person whom the only connection he or she knows is wireless connection?
We have given too much power to social media to the point of it being able to change who we are, to define us, and give us a whole new identity. It is so easy to be famous as it is to become infamous. It is so easy to become a “fitspiration” as it is to be judged as “photoshop queen”. Why is it that many think speaking in English in social media is cool and susyal while speaking in Tagalog it’s baduy. Why is it that we post pictures of working out in the gym when in real life you never lost a single pound? Why is it that we tweet it when we are in Sofitel but never when we’re in a fastfood? Why is it that we post pictures of tons of shopping bags when in fact it’s just one piece per one bag because you asked the cashier to do so? Why is it so important to us to look fabulous, rich and famous when in truth, everyone is just as equal?
My point is, social media is great and all, but are we going to let it change us and wait for us to become this narcissistic-social media-obsessed person whom the only connection he or she knows is wireless connection?