So I was scrolling through Facebook instead of doing something I know I should do, such as cleaning my house or working on something writing related. I found a 30 day writing challenge. I think I’ll do it just to keep me in the habit of getting some words on some page daily.

Today’s challenge is Five Problems With Social Media. Only five, huh? Let’s see….

1. Time waster: How many HOURS a day do we spend mindlessly scrolling Facebook, Instagram and don’t get me started on Twitter! Log it and see what you come up with. Scary!

2. Cyber Bullying: Beyoncé released her new visual album (whatever that is) a few days ago. I haven’t listened to it. Not really a Beyoncé fan. Anyhoodles, the album apparently alludes to Jay Z being a big fat cheater and refers to his side chick(s) as Becky with the Good Hair. Now millions of people are ganging up and bullying via social media several celebs and celeb-affiliated people I’ve never heard of for being Jay Z’s Becky. We don’t know the story. It ain’t our business anyway. People are losing their minds over the alleged Beckys and hounding them into hiding. Don’t even get me started on kids being bullied online. Teens and tweens have KILLED themselves over cyber bullying! Instead of coming up with any real solutions, it just gets worse.

3. Unrealistic Expectations: We see these celebrities online looking perfect, with the perfect family, in the perfect house(s). We see high school friends doing better than us when we just knew we would leave them in the dust all those years ago. We see their kids achieving more than our kids.  And we become dissatisfied with our own lives. In reality, it’s all illusion. Nobody is that perfect. We don’t see what they’re hiding behind those filters. Valencia  hides a lot of flaws! To ground myself in reality, I like to check out the offerings of Celeste Barber on Instagram. SHE is thoroughly rooted in reality!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Celeste Barber (@celestebarber)

4. Focusing on Followers, Not Your Actual Life: I hear teens  all the time, “I have 50,000 followers on Instagram. So and so is following my Snap Chat.” Then they focus on keeping up the illusion instead of actually being present in their own lives. Smoke and mirrors have their purpose. Creating the illusion of your idealized life is not one of them. I would like to say let’s tell these kids X amount of followers on Twitter and Instagram means nothing on a resume, but I would be wrong .

5. It’s Dehumanizing: Social Media is easy and convenient. They have degree plans for social media management and marketing now. It’s easier to send someone a Facebook message to invite them to a party or tell them happy birthday than to purchase a card/invitation and mail it with a stamp. It’s easier to tag grandma in photos than to send her a hard copy. (NOTE: I am guilty of this, too). We can have entire relationships with people and never see them face to face or speak on the phone. Next time you sit down to dinner with your significant other or family, leave the smart phones and tablets in the other room and make actual eye contact with them. It’s not easy! But it makes all the difference.