#WinterABC2020 Day 6; Four things I’ve learnt from social media.

Sanibonani *How are you from Zulu South Africa*

Its super-duper exciting to be back after reading all your amazing blogs over the weekend and catching up with the missed reads during the week.

Today’s prompt is thought-provoking because I first interfaced with social media in 2009 and dived into a biosphere that no one had warned me about. I must say that I now have a grip on it but in the beginning, it was depressing.

These are the four things that I’ve learnt from Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, Pinterest and Tumblr;

First, don’t try so hard.

The first years on social media for me were about trying to make sure I make the most friends on Facebook because when the school term began, the coolest person was the one with the most friends on Facebook. And so, when I didn’t achieve that, I felt out of place. I made sure I posted everyday or changed my WhatsApp display picture before the stories came up, and mehn oh mehn, I got tired.

So social media has taught me that the most natural and easy-going people make it through the day. So, I’ve learnt not to try so hard but let nature take its course.

Second, don’t troll people.

I know most times, especially on Twitter, it will look cool if you give the meanest comment to someone’s tweet or picture on Instagram and you’ll probably get popularity for it. But what effect does trolling people have on your sub conscience. Even before we get to the troller’s sub conscience, what effect do you think it has to the victims of the mean comments? I don’t think its worth it to lose your soul to the devil just to get a few more followers on your account…

Third, post valuable content.

Honestly, most times just scrolling through certain people’s social media pages leaves me wondering why I did. So, I decided to deliberately follow people whose feeds will add value to my life.

Its one thing to scroll through your phone for fun but at the end of the day, you realize you spend over 10 hours of your day on social media collectively, and whatever trash your letting in will stick with you. So why not scroll through beneficial pages? That’s one of the things that I intentionally decided to do over the past two years. It’s been remarkable.

Lastly, be true to yourself.

I’ve realized that scrolling through Instagram usually leaves me questioning myself and my beauty. Ahaha, trust me. The level of slaying that happens on Insta, I stan! So, I decided that whatever I see and whoever I see, I won’t try to replicate their lives just so that I appear to be like them.

There’s a picture that was making rounds sometime of some girl that had tried so hard to look like she was on a plane sipping wine, when actually, someone was just holding a toilet seat and the picture of the sky was on her laptop background. But with the right cropping, she posted on her social media with the 2020 vacation!

Now how much work did it take for her to do all that? To prove what point?

Of the many things I’ve learnt, these four are my biggest take homes.

Until tomorrow…

Masses of love.