Katie31185

Katie31185 was my AOL screen name circa late ’90s. Those were the years lucky households starting getting PCs and dial-up internet. Sending an email, stopping by a chat room (a/s/l?), and sending messages via AIM were about the extent of “social media”. Life before MySpace, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat was easy and fun.

Look familiar?

Fast forward almost 20 years and we’re playing a whole different ballgame. Information of every kind is available in an instant. We can announce engagements, share disgust for politicians, ask for advice, or show off our new LBD at the push of a button. For a $1.99 we can alter a photo to make us taller, thinner or tanner. Bullies can hide behind a screen and hate groups can pray on the innocent.

Thank goodness I’m not a kid these days.

Even as an adult social media can be detrimental. It’s easy to succumb to feelings of envy and self-hate. Very few people choose to post an unflattering picture or announce when they’ve been laid off or dumped. On social media everyone is leading seemingly happier lives than you.

I would be lying if I said I didn’t get sucked in sometimes. I would be lying if I said I never compared myself to a girl I once knew in college or a professional athlete. Why aren’t I having babies? Why isn’t my house as big as hers? Why is she skinnier than me?

I just can’t help but wonder how young girls handle these stresses. Who is teaching them to use social media as a tool and not a weapon? Do they understand that much of what they read, even see, is not real?

Throughout this process I’ve considered signing off for good. However, I decided that would mean admitting I was weak. I’m not weak and neither are the millions of pre-teens/teens on social media at any given moment. Sometimes we just need a reminder that we control social media, not the other way around.