Entry No. 5 – The “B.ravo S.ierra” of Social Media
The debriefing starts now…
If you’re anything like me, you find the social media circus utterly exhausting. Perhaps you’ve got a social media account…or five. Let’s see…there’s Facebook, Myspace, Instagram, Kik, Tinder, Snapchat, Periscope, Tumblr, Twitter….the list grows by the hour. And I just can’t keep up with the madness.
I joined MySpace in 2007 and then left MySpace for Facebook in 2009. I didn’t get an Instagram page until May of 2017 and I’ve decided to stop there.
It’s hilarious that Derek has more platforms than I do. Awhile back, I teased him about joining Snapchat. The conversation went a little something like this:
Me: I’m getting a Snapchat account.
Him: Please don’t.
Me: Why not?
Him: I don’t want you zombied out on your phone.
Me: But you’re glued to your phone all day!
Him: Exactly. I’m trying to save you.
As a business owner, I cannot deny the awesome opportunities that come from having social media presence. These experiences epitomize everything wonderful about the internet; connecting with like-minded people, unity, and collaboration. But for every light, there is a darkness.
Enter the b.ravo s.ierra (aka the BS) of social media.
I initially joined Instagram for the beautiful photography. Instagram piqued my interest with its vision-board-style layout and fun social interaction. I started following all my favorite fitness personalities, discovering new inspirations along the way; faces like the incredible Nelita Villezon, Lita Lewis, Tatiana Olli, Kaisafit, Jena Frumes, Antanique, Tianna Gregory and the entire Alvin Ailey dance company!
But it didn’t take long before Instagram’s ratchet alter ego showed its face.Take a stroll through the “recommended” section of Instagram, which showcases pages you may like based on previous likes, and you will see what I’m talking about. For every positive fitness account, there are dozens more catering to a lustful, “Look-at-me, I’m-larger-than-life” audience. I see women with their bare bums out, posed with their backs to the camera. And right below the picture, there’s a novel on how blessed, grateful and humbled they are, and how you should “never give up on chasing your dreams”.
It was certainly enough to make me question what on earth I was doing with my life and why wasn’t I watching the sunset from a new country every week?
….imagine my surprise when I learned the caveats of some (not all, but many) of these “Insta-famous” personalities. Like them being sugar-babies. Or being paid to visit these places. Or traveling while couch-surfing off their friends. Or being photo-shopped into settings.
Social media has evolved into a place for people of all ages to escape reality and create their “perfect world”. It has become a place of fabricated fallacies, which can then be broadcast to thousands, even millions, of people worldwide. And if you aren’t careful, you will believe that these doctored snapshots of their life represent true happiness and fulfillment, especially from a physical appearance perspective. Now, I’m not saying every chiseled guy and hot babe on Instagram is lying, but I WILL attest to countless articles and videos that expose the foolery for what it is. This includes the magic of angles and filters and how to position your body to look slimmer/fuller/rounder.
One of the most humbling realizations I’ve had as a woman, is the knowledge that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder and there will ALWAYS be someone better looking than you. What looks fantastic to you, may be mediocre to another. What you may find impressive about one person’s life may not inspire another.
That being said, enjoy social media for what it is and what it isn’t. Do not make the mistake of comparing your personal life to what you see online. At best, it’s inspirational, and at its worst, foolery to be taken with a grain of salt.
If you care to dive deeper into the discussion and go beyond the physical, check out this entry by an incredible Blogger and founder of Modern Health Monk, Alexander Heyne, titled “Stop F*cking Trying to be Famous (And Do Something That Matters)”. You can check it out here. I loved it.
That’s my five minutes for the day.
With love, and GAINS.
Today’s Random Nugget: Aviation was born on the sand dunes at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903. On that day Orville Wright crawled between the wings of the plane he and his brother Wilbur had built, opened the throttle of their homemade 12-horsepower engine, and took to the air. He covered 120 feet in 12 seconds. In a fourth attempt that day, Wilbur stayed up 59 seconds and covered 852 feet. These were the first controlled, sustained flights in a power-driven airplane.
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