My Relationship With Technology

I grew up in a very technology positive family. Both of my parents work in the technology field, and I had my first laptop when I was very young (granted it was my mom's old one and it could barely run anything but Webkinz ran pretty well). I've always been active on social media and the internet, and I find it really hard to not be. Since I grew up with technology, I feel like I have an unhealthy dependence on it. I wasn't allowed to have an instagram, snapchat, or twitter until I was 12, but ever since then I've been attached at the hip with them. Even though these three platforms are all forms of social media, I have very different relationships with each of them. And with the rise of TikTok, my outlook on social media has continued to grow more complicated.



I really want to delete Instagram and Snapchat. I find myself looking at my friends accounts and comparing myself to them. I find myself scrolling through old classmates accounts and feeling bad about myself because their photos make it seem like they are happier. I've gone weeks without instagram, but most of my friends communicate through snapchat, so there is no way for me to delete it. I hope in the future I can truly just delete my instagram, because I really believe that my mental health will be so much better without it. I found this time article that really sums up my feelings on instagram perfectly, here.

I think Twitter is the social media I have the best relationship with. I don't follow any of my friends on twitter, and none of them follow me. I don't use my face or name on my account. Because of the fact that twitter is mostly text based and that I don't follow anyone I know, I don't compare myself to others on the app as much. I mostly just retweet funny tweets and follow my favorite celebrities.


TikTok is where it gets complicated. I can spend hours on tiktok. Last week I spent only 3 hours on tiktok. The fact that 3 hours is so little to me explains it all. I don't follow a lot of friends on tiktok, and I don't make my own, but there is a lot of stuff about instagram that carries over to tiktok for me. While most of the tiktoks I watch are funny and calming and supportive, there are some that have negative themes and impact my mental health greatly. Sometimes I leave tiktok feeling bad about myself, and thats really not healthy.

It was really fun to look up my online footprint! The first thing you see when you search my name is my linkedin profile. Second is my varsity volleyball stats from high school, which is weird. The rest is my graphic design work and my portfolio. My instagram shows up 9th. It's crazy that someone can find out so much about me with just a simple google search, and it really puts everything into perspective.


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