‘YOU’, Me and the Social Media

I recently joined the many who have watched the currently trending, creepy and wholly possible Netflix series – YOU.

Other than the fact that it really says volumes about my darker, crazier side because I could relate to Beck so much and couldn’t figure out whether I loathed Joe Goldberg or was secretly rooting for him, let’s talk about what I thought was the central theme of the show – Social media and its impact on our lives 😀

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been thinking a lot about social media, the age of too much information, the age of internet and our need to be constantly validated, since watching this show.

Right after watching the show, I felt so annoyed at myself for relating with Beck, that I decided that social media was the real evil. I wanted to delete my Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat account instantly. I thought, I was probably stressed from life because I was constantly trying to be a better version of myself and get validation from friends and strangers on everything that I accomplished. I even felt great being an underdog or a rebel on social media! I thought no wonder I feel so overwhelmed all the time- trying to match up to these perfect men and women on the internet. I wondered, no wonder I feel all this guilt because I’m unable to lose weight or be the perfect mom or be the amazing career woman that I’d always wanted to be. I thought, how bad the internet is because it makes us DESIRE so much! I thought, the word of the age is ‘More!‘. I used to earn x when I started my career, now I earn 10x and yet I’m broke. I’ve got more things now, a swanky house and a cute family. A stable job and brains and health to be able to read and run and enjoy a drink. Yet I want more. The age that lives and feeds off consumption. For the next two days, I felt as if I was living in a world from a dystopian novel where everyone just keeps consuming and becomes big and fat and have so much waste and then there’s a Big Bang and it’s all gone! I know, my brain does that sometimes. It’s also called anxiety in some circles.

However, thankfully, I have been blessed with a mind that manages to come out of this spiral with some deep breathing and rationalising too.

So, I started being rational and thought, what would happen if there was no social media at all? If there was no internet? If there was no Watsapp? How would I keep in touch with my friends and family, living cities and sometimes continents apart? How will I see my friends achieve amazing things and be a part of their joy? How will my parents see their granddaughter growing up? Yeah I need validation, but only from my own community. I post things that I myself am proud of. I post about my running, or a place I traveled to or a fabulous book I read. How else would I have found my own nerdy and slightly crazy book blogging community of book lovers and not felt like an outsider in my own little circle, had there not been a blogging site or a bookstagram? How else would I have discovered these amazing international books living in India where these books are not sold at all? How would I have learnt to be a better version of myself and find inspiration from?

So, I managed to calm myself down and not delete any of my social media profiles. And I returned to my favourite mantra of ‘Do everything, try everything, just keep it moderate and keep it real‘.

Don’t let the wave control you, but ride the wave instead. (I don’t know anything about surfing by the way hahah)

Sure there may be creeps and stalkers online. But we don’t have to post every minute of our lives and seek approval for everything either. I don’t believe in being a social media hermit, I decided. I like the balance- somewhere in between, where I can make the most of it. Also, turn off the location services and put some curtains woman/man! Hahah

I’d love to hear your thoughts on social media – are you a social media recluse or a social media addict or somewhere in between?

What precautions do you take?

What platforms are you on or love?