RTA 902 Blog #3
By: Kyle Oliveira
Tags: Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Social Media, Letters

As tough as it is to explain social media to your grandparents, it would be even harder to explain it to someone who hasn’t lived through it yet. Social media as a concept seems simple, but the power it holds and its importance in today’s society is so large that it’s tough for even my current self to wrap my head around. I say this to note that explaining this phenomenon to a 10-year-old Kyle is an interesting task. After all, I’m still only 21. I have a lot still to learn, and more real life experience to acquire, but as of December 2020, this is the letter I would write to my younger self about both the good and bad of social media.

Dear 10-year-old Kyle,

In about a year you’re going to be begging your parents to let you get Facebook. They may show a bit of resistance, but you are going to keep pushing at it, because everyone else in school has an account, and the last thing you want to do is be left out.

A few years after that you’ll begin to fully embrace the power that your phone gives you. You’ll join Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and several other apps that will be very popular for a year and then disappear.

All these platforms will excite you, they will keep you interested, and don’t get it twisted, they will consume you. It’ll be the first thing you check when you wake up, and before you go to bed it will be the last thing that crosses your mind.

As your older self, I could lecture you about how it’s unhealthy to spend all day on social media and how there are other more productive things you could be doing, but I won’t. Every other kid in your grade will be just as obsessed as you, maybe even more so, and so I want you to know it’s not your fault. As a society, we will progress to the point where the world revolves around these social media applications, and you will become a piece of that puzzle.

The purpose of this letter is not to scare you, or tell you to delete everything off your phone. It’s to tell you to be smart.

Social media is going to help you make new friends, it’s going to help you stay connected, and it’s going to give you hours of entertainment for free. There’s no point in hiding this fact: social media is often a good thing. You can create a career through social media, you can stay connected to distant relatives through social media, and you can learn about great causes and charities through social media. These applications are not inherently bad, they are useful, and you will use them often. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

This is what I will tell you though from my old age of 21: (you’re about to graduate and enter the real world, how scary is that?) social media is a lie, and as long as you can remember that social media is pretend, you will be set. This may seem a bit melodramatic, but let me explain.

Every single time you open Instagram you’re going to see pictures of happy couples, big smiles, happy families and amazing get togethers. Looking back on it, I have wasted a lot of time looking at these images while contemplating my own life. In these pictures, everything is perfect, and well, your life won’t be perfect. The thing is though, no ones is. Behind those smiles are real life stories. Know that everything on Instagram is staged, most things on Snapchat stories are for validation, and followers DO NOT equal friends. You will be pressured into thinking you have to live this perfect lifestyle that you see from everyone else on your Instagram feed, but don’t fall for the trap. A still image or tweet is not indicative of what’s really going on.

Social media is for fun. If you can remember it as such, and ensure that it doesn’t take over your life or affect your mental health negatively, then I think you’ll be all set for the next decade and beyond.

Enjoy it all. You’re growing up in the most misunderstood generation of all time, and I think most would agree it’s the hardest generation to grow up in. Don’t let that scare you though. Behind all these social media accounts are eyeballs, and possibly future jobs for you if you play your cards right.

Social media is a good thing as long as you are responsible; thankfully I have no doubt that you will be. Good luck and stay safe!

From,

21-year-old Kyle

P.S Get excited, the Raptors are gonna win a championship sooner than you think.