Social media is one of the most
important things in my life, as it helps me keep up with my interests (music,
TV, fashion, etc.) and connect with other people who share those interests.
These websites, especially Twitter, have improved my life immensely, but not without
negatives. When I joined Twitter, I found huge groups of people with the same
interests as me, which helped me a lot to grow as a person. I talked to these
people and they helped me understand where I fit in. Having friends that I
could talk to about my interests and them understanding where I was coming from
was great for me and ended up improving my social skills a lot. When you’re
talking to people online, especially with the Twitter character limit, you
learn quickly how to use your words powerfully and effectively. Those skills
have helped me with everything from casual conversation to public speaking to
essay writing. When the only way to represent yourself on the internet is
through a picture, a 160 character bio, and some short text posts, you also
find the importance in presenting yourself to others. I found that to help me
socially in “real life” as well because I could place myself in a group of
people and know how I wanted to present myself to them and let them know who I
was. With some exceptions, social media could be one of the most genuine ways
of forming relationships because it’s more acceptable to be you on the Internet. People can be
selective with the information that they share but once they share it, it’s out
for the world to see. On sites like Twitter and Tumblr, people share their
innermost feelings to hundreds, sometimes thousands of followers. It’s possible
to get a good sense of someone’s personality before you’re close with them and,
if you like it, the websites supply the tools to have the conversations and get
to know them better.
I’ve made some of my closest friends on Twitter, had great
conversations with people on my Tumblr, and met countless of them in person.
Every one that I’ve met, usually after months of talking online, has been just
as interesting and genuine as they were on the Internet. There are definitely
some weird people on social networking sites but experience and common sense is
all that’s needed to avoid them. A lot of social networking also takes up huge amounts
of time. There’s always new information pouring in from every direction and
keeping up with all of it, though impossible, is never-ending. It’s easy to
forget about real-life responsibilities with deadlines and consequences while
drowning in the flood of new info and knowledge. But, like everything, it’s
alright in moderation. Doing online work is one of the hardest self-control
tests because of the incredibly easy access to endless people who you could
have amazing conversations with. That’s usually an issue but this one negative
is outweighed by the many amazing things that social networking has fabricated
for me and so many other people. Because of it, I’ve talked to some of my
favorite musicians, gotten free tickets to concerts, changed my way of
thinking, and met some of my best friends. I definitely have a huge emotional
investment in these people and ideas and this is just the abbreviated version.
I feel so strongly about the things I’ve experienced just from being involved
in these websites that I could go on about them forever, but I believe that
they’ve changed my life for the best and I wouldn’t trade anything for it.
