Dia daoibh meine Geliebten!

Today I want to talk about social media, the good, the bad and the downright ugly. Now I know the whole “pros and cons of social media” thing has really been beaten to death but I have opinions and I want to share them gosh darnit. It has been proven time and time again that one’s self-esteem is increased significantly when:

“individuals are (or imagine being) included, accepted, or deemed popular by others” (Burrow et al., 2017, p.232)

I am an avid user of social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Pinterest and YouTube (not a vlogger, don’t worry). And up until about a year ago I was also a big fan of Twitter and Snap chat but have since given both up. (RIP Saoirse’s hilarious Twitter account). I feel like the easiest way to do this is simply to make two separate lists. Now keep in mind that these lists are pros and cons of my personal social media experience rather than the pros and cons of all social media and all experiences ever

First I think I’ll explain why I left Twitter and Snapchat. *queue dramatic music* To keep it simple the main reason I left both these platforms was simply because they were too addictive, too distracting, consuming all of my time, making me feel empty and sad and I realized the services they provided could be found on other social media platforms I was already using such as Facebook Messenger and Instagram. I also found that the happiness and validation I felt when a tweet got lots of favourites and retweets was unhealthy. Academics describe this roller-coaster of emotions as:

“social comparison orientation” or “SCO” (Valkenburg et al. 2006)

This is part and parcel with social media use but not necessarily good for you. With regards Snapchat it became an endless vacuum, sucking up all my time and will to live. I can honestly say that my study and learning has suffered so much (and continues to do so), simply because of my addiction to social media and lack of self control.

On a very practical level, it would be a lot harder to function in my day to day life without Facebook Messenger. It’s now so quick and easy to organize things with friends, colleagues, etc. Communication is now so immediate, it’s crazy! For ages this was the only thing keeping me on Facebook until I realized you could be on Facebook Messenger without being on Facebook too. As a result, I’m currently in the process of letting go of Facebook. By that I mean: Deactivating my account for 3 months only to reactivate it to creep on someone (don’t judge me), become hooked again, only to redeactivate it (and so the vicious cycle continues).

When it comes to Instagram I am partial to posting the odd meme or two on my story. I also love the fact that I can look back in the past 3 years of my life and see the best/most memorable events all captured in one continuous stream of photos. I do understand that a lot of people struggle with feeling inadequate and insecure about their appearance on Instagram. If you’re not careful you can end up being surrounded by model-like “Influencers” living seemingly incredible lives. However, who you follow and what you see and consume is totally up to you! I personally find Instagram a very encouraging, body positive experience. Purely because of the people I choose to follow!

Slán go fóillio,

Saoirse x

Burrow, A., & Rainone, N. (2017). How many likes did I get?: Purpose moderates links between positive social media feedback and self-esteem. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 69, 232–236.

Valkenburg, P.M., Peter, J. and Schouten, A.P., 2006. Friend networking sites and their relationship to adolescents’ well-being and social self-esteem. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 9(5), pp.584-590.