Why Social Media *Can* Be Great….
At the moment the whole internet is uproar about the beautiful and wise Essena Oneill who boldly came forwards about the reality behind those ‘perfect’ photos. She admitted to we knew deep down was true, 100’s of shot’s to find ‘the one’, missing meals and using several editing applications all for one photo.
There’s a flipside though, because not all social media users are like this. Unless it becomes a unhealthy obsession or comparison there’s nothing wrong with following those who do portray ‘The perfect life’.
For me, it’s like flipping through a glossy magazine and knowing that the models are retouched and the scene is set and I’m being sold the product/recipe/lifestyle. The best thing is we don’t NEED to buy into it all…
Social media and sport -You may post a picture of your run or write a race recap and instantly feel that you need to demean your efforts by writing ‘I know I’m slow by many people’s standards’ and so on. Yet so many people ENJOY reading posts and seeing tweets, instragrams and Facebook updates that they find relatable. I have as much respect and interest in someone who runs a 70min 10km as I do someone that run’s a 35min 10km. The primary difference is I am more likely to follow the person I feel is fun and interesting.
I love the fact social media means I can cheer on people I’ve never met. Thanks to Twitter I got the chance to go and run with Mary (10x Marathoner and seriously humble). Friendly folk’s on social media pushed me to get up and go outside to run, because I was reminded that I would feel better. Following other bloggers and instragram profiles on social media led me to the concept of lifting weights and eating more.
Social Media and Blogging – When I first started blogging I had zero social media presence, I was unsure about the concept and I didn’t want to be ‘found out’. Blogging was, and very much still is my hobby, a place on the internet to call my own, and share my view’s and welcome the views of others. Gradually I have increased my presence and this enabled me to meet people behind the blog’s. I wrote about my nerves and the fact ‘I had every intention of avoiding meeting everyone because I genuinely didn’t think I had the nerve to do it’ in my post ‘Blog Life Vs Real Life’.
It’s exciting and positive that having a blog or a social media account can bring people together who would have never met otherwise. It’s great to grab a coffee, to share a story or even just put a face to the name, in 2015 it can be very hard to meet new people.
Social Media and my personal life – In many way’s my blog is like a diary, I can look back on key event’s and reflect on how I felt back then, I can also see how far I’ve come. On the other hand I am fully aware that many people consider lifestyle blogging self indulgent and feel that we should be enjoying life rather than photographing and sharing it. Nonetheless I appreciate seeing moments that have made others happy and that they want to share the experience. From a personal point of view, I won’t deny that I do keep a lot of my social life private, due to the fact not everyone want’s to be seen online and it can be anti social.
I recently joined ‘Snap Chat‘ which is something I had resisted for a long time, mainly for the reason I wanted to make silly video’s and pictures to send to my friends. I then quickly realised that I would be a fun way to show ‘the other side’ with photo’s that have NO FILTERS, silly video’s and a more personal, less polished view.
Last but not least, please always keep in mind that social media is just a ‘snap shot’ and it’s not all about numbers and like’s. I’ve found that I enjoy it more when I interact (no, don’t follow people and unfollow when they follow back) and when I follow a balance of ‘perfect‘ and perfectly imperfect people.
Katie
x
P.s
I am social, I’d love to see what you ate for lunch..