My love/hate relationship with social media

Social media can be your best friend whilst blogging. Without this friend, my blog certainly wouldn't be where it is now! In a matter of seconds, I can log into my Twitter account, promote my posts, chat to other bloggers and have easy access to their new posts. Joining in on Twitter chats, using a wide range of hastags, allows me to connect to bloggers and have my say in the blogging community. The support which other bloggers give is incredible; something that I never realised when I first started out. Having my social media accounts, can give me confidence that I don't necessarily have in real life but that is the issue that I sometimes worry about - if I'm not always the same on social media than in real life, other people may not be either?!

Many of you might relate to this when I say that the online safety talks, that I used to have at school, freaked me out. Still to this day, I'm sceptical about who I talk to online because I don't want to put myself in a vulnerable situation. Although the vast majority of people that I speak to on Twitter are lovely and are the legitimate person that they claim to be, there are still some doubts in my mind. The internet, sometimes, can be a very scary place. From the experiences that I have had whilst blogging, I have been extremely lucky and I'm very grateful for the fact that everyone is kind and I haven't had any issues. However, in the back of my mind, I still think about my safety.

Another factor about having social media which I hate is comparing yourself to others. No matter how hard I try, I can't help it. If other bloggers seem to be doing better than me and getting a better response on their posts, I think, 'What am I doing wrong?'. However, it's not me that's doing anything wrong, social media figures have lead me to believe that I'm not good enough. Something to remember which is really important is that 'Other people's successes aren't your failures'. Social media is set out to make you forget that point. When you see an account with thousands of followers it's hard not to compare. 

Also, social media is not always a true representation of real life. Yes, you can post a lot of your life on social media but your followers will never know everything - which I think is a good thing. I follow famous celebrities and recognise that what they are posting isn't the whole story. 

@making_camera: I'm loving wearing a red lip!

You see this and learn that I like red lipstick but you don't know anymore - it's a brief, vague statement. Some people choose to post more personal things which is more of an insight into their life but every detail isn't shared. So, when people judge others on their social media, it isn't fair because they don't necessarily know the person outside of the Internet. It is so easy to hate online because you can't see the reactions of the person. This is awful but you can't stop people doing it. By creating an account, there is always that slight chance that you might receive hate - you have to make a judgement call. 

To end on a happy note, social media can have a positive impact on someone's day. Recently, I joined Jemma's #girlgang which I think is an amazing idea. Spreading positivity and supporting others in a place that isn't always easy sailing should be promoted heavily - Jemma has really done a great job of this. Since the gang was created, my timeline has been so lovely to read!

I think that I will always have this love/hate relationship with social media but I have learnt that little acts of kindness and spreading positivity instead of negative thoughts has as much impact online as they do in real life! 

xox