Is Social Media Destroying Relationships?

Earlier this year I wrote about Social Media and Modern Society. I promise this relates to what I am trying to say, but you need my mindset behind it first.

In the last few months, I have been thinking about what it means to be a friend. Friend, is a term you learn from a very early age. A friend, to a preschooler, is usually someone who you play with. You don’t worry about all the small stuff when you’re a preschooler (or at least don’t seem to), everyone can be your friend. 

As you get older, you start to realize your own morals, values, and what it means to be a friend. The smaller things start to matter. You want to have things in common outside of the sandbox. Though, you also appreciate diversity.

Friends have come and gone over the years. The ones I had in high school have lives of their own and we no longer speak  (with the exception of a few). 

Yet, how many of these people are friends with you on social media? I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t add just anyone to my personal social media accounts. 

Then I got to thinking, why are we all so obsessed with sharing our entire lives on social media? Especially, to those who have no interest in our lives anyway. If they did, then they would probably come around instead of sitting behind a screen to keep up with your daily life. At least, that is how I think.

Has social media destroyed genuine friendships? Has it given us all anxiety and depression issues? I think, in some form, yes. Friendships are not what they once were, at least not for the majority of people. 

Social media turns everything into a competition of who has the most exciting life, making us doubt our own. 

What was life like before social media? When you didn’t think about 100+ people’s lives and what they are doing. Where you focus on yourself and your family. There wasn’t a constant battle of, “oh I wish I had a life like hers” or “his life is so much better, he gets to experience so many cool things while I am busting my ass trying to just make ends meet”. The unknown can be blissful. The less you know, the better. 

I wonder if people will ever revert back to social media-less times. 

Just remember, you are in no competition with anyone but yourself. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Nobody is exempt from challenges.

-Jenn