From entering high school to graduating college, it’s one of the most important times in your life. Everyone goes through it, but only the people who have lived through it can give the best advice. That’s where I come in, a 20-year-old college student who’s been through high school and living the college experience to give you all the tips for survival.
Everyone and their mother have Instagram. In the United States at least, the only people who don’t have the social media platform are those who refuse to leave Facebook, uber-famous celebrities to maintain their privacy, or little kids. Most of those who read this column have Instagram and Twitter and maybe Facebook. You may have even been scrolling through Instagram when you saw a post promoting this very column.
However you ended up here, Instagram and social media, in general, are new frontiers that we do not know the full consequences of yet. There is not one generation that has lived an entire life with social media. There are no definitive studies of how people will be affected by it throughout the span of their lives, and Instagram went from an app for sharing pictures to an entire career-launching platform almost overnight. Therefore, social media, like any other unknown Wild West-like platform, needs to be used with caution.
Social media can be all fun and games. Use Instagram to post fun pictures of yourself and your friends. Tweet what you ate for breakfast if you really want to. Use Facebook for catching up with your family and friends and post about your favorite movie. The key is to not let social media take over your life.
Your profiles across all platforms should be like sending a letter to a friend you haven’t seen all summer – excited to tell her what you are loving now, showing off the experiences you have had, but saving the very juicy details for when you see her in person. You don’t need the entire internet to know you partied the entire weekend and skipped class on Monday. You probably don’t show off on social media that you failed an exam, so why would you post the things that may have led up to you failing it?
Your social media is a representation of you and what you want people to know about you. If you want to share a fun experience, that’s fine, but don’t post all of your fun experiences, especially if they happen often. Every time you post something, you are allowing people inside your life, and they have the ability to think and say whatever they want. Although you shouldn’t care what others think, you should care what your future boss thinks about the fun times.
Another reason to keep private things off of social media is because that is what people will find out about you when they get to know you. Don’t spoil getting to know the real you by posting too much on social media. Keeping your love life a little more private is better because the day something goes south, it’s not embarrassing to have to delete your entire Instagram feed. Keeping some mystery about your love life gives you more time with your partner and allows both of you to avoid the awkward conversation about why one isn’t posting as much about the other.
Social media does have some negative effects that have been studied. The New York Times recently wrote a piece titled “Instagram Is Hiding Likes. Will That Reduce Anxiety?” by Mariel Padilla, where it explains how Instagram is taking action and testing its platform by removing likes on pictures and videos to see how the user is impacted. This confirms the idea that social media is a breeding ground for competition and comparing that may not be so healthy.
Social media when not used properly is already showing signs of being bad for our health. Anxiety, depression, and sadness are extreme emotions that come from a relatively new app. I once went a whole month without using Instagram and realized that I don’t even like posting pictures, I just like taking them for myself for when I’m older. Making sure that you don’t spend too much time on any social media platform, hanging out with real friends in real life, and being cautious of what you post are vital tips to your mental health when using social media.
Bullying has unfortunately happened since the first generation, but cyberbullying is the new thing we must all be careful about. The issue has occurred so many times that Instagram’s own info center released press material titled “Our Commitment to Lead the Fight Against Online Bullying,” where they explain features they have released to fight cyberbullying. These confirmations by the very app where the bullying happens show us how real and how careful we need to be online.
You should always post something that you are proud of and that makes you feel good when you are not in the moment. Don’t give anyone the chance to say mean things, and, in turn, you won’t feel as big a need to prove something to the internet or spend so much time on it. Live one day at a time, don’t take Instagram with you every step of the way, and you can see how much more fun living your life for you really is.
Of course, I’m still going through the whole college situation and you should always listen to your parents’ advice first, but I hope this helps. And don’t forget that you have so much to offer the world! Have some advice or want advice on a specific topic? Email Togenerationz@gmail.com with your inquiries.
