In today’s age of technology, social media has become an important aspect of just about everybody’s lives. Since I have started using various social media platforms, it has become an integral part of my life for a variety of reasons. I am currently an active user of social media and plan on adapting it more into my lifestyle as time goes on.
Connections
The main reason I use social media often is because of the interconnectedness I am able to experience with my family and friends that I have all over the country and world. The idea of using social media as a form of communication is nothing new since almost two decades have passed since Eveland stated that “relationship maintenance measures used in social media have frequently been general statements” (Langstedt, 2013, p. 127). By being able to stay connected with friends and family through social media, I am able to instantly message them and communicate with them with ease. I have become increasingly reliant on this feature over the past couple of years since going away to college and from the pandemic.
Entertainment
A large aspect of the usage of my social media habits is for the source of entertainment. Whether I am on Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok, I enjoy how my feeds are able to have personalized content that is solely based on what I enjoy in the sense of media. Depending on the situation, social media is often one of my cures for boredom due to the fact that I am able to keep up with what my friends are doing, communicate with different people, and watch short videos for fun. All of the social media platforms that I use allow me to take a small break and unwind from reality and the stress that I may encounter on a daily basis.
Hobbies and Interests
Another benefit that I find in my relationship with social media is the ability to learn new interests and hobbies online. Sharing hobbies online became prominent during the pandemic and was a “productive form of self-expression and communication, a form of mindfulness, a healthy distraction, and it also fits within a type of therapy known as behavioral activation” (Hunt & Langstedt, 2022, p. 82). Learning new hobbies and skills has made me become more motivated to do better for myself and to create more goals to accomplish in my personal life. A big hobby that I picked up through using social media is cooking. This has become a big hobby of mine since I find it relaxing and it gives me the chance to challenge myself to try new foods and new cooking styles.
Source of News
Just like the rest of the world, social media platforms have become my primary source of new feeds. “The majority of news organizations today, if not all, have social media presence, and the use of social networking sites (SNS) aims at disseminating more news and creating a better connection with the news organization’s online audience” (Al-Rawi, 2017, p. 347). The convenience that social media holds due to how fast things can travel has allowed me to stay up to date with many current events that happen. Also, it gives me the chance to learn about events that are happening worldwide rather than just the ones that I see locally from the local news station or news website. By being able to view worldwide events, it has presented people with the opportunity to feel more interconnected with others all over. A big downside of using social media as my source of news is that it can present a bias that runs across different platforms. However, to combat this issue, I chose to follow accounts that remain neutral with a number of topics so that I feel that I am getting the most authentic information that is possible.
Conclusion
I feel that social media has allowed me to grow as a person and expand my knowledge of a variety of things. As social media continues to adapt, I plan to continue to integrate different aspects of it into my life for the better and try to rule out any negatives that may occur from it. Through the interconnectedness, self-discovery, entertainment, and its being a source of news, I feel that social media is a hub where I can find anything that I find convenient.
References
Al-Rawi, A. (2017, December 19). Audience Preferences of News Stories on Social
Media. The Journal of Social Media in Society, 6 (2), 343–367.
https://thejsms.org/index.php/JSMS/article/view/284/139
Langstedt, E. (Spring 2013). An Examination of the Role of the Communicator on
Gratifications Attained on Social Network Sites. The Journal of Social Media
in Society, 2 (1), 126–144.
https://thejsms.org/index.php/JSMS/article/view/16/22
Langstedt, E., & Hunt, D. S. (Spring 2022). Loneliness and Hobby Adoption: Social
Networking During the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Journal of Social Media in
Society, 11 (1), 81–102.
https://thejsms.org/index.php/JSMS/article/view/1013/565
Romero, G. (2022). Social Media Hobbies. The Daily Free Press. Back Bay Publishing Co., Inc. Retrieved
April 19, 2023, from https://dailyfreepress.com/2022/02/27/social-media-society-the-new-age-
hobby-hub-gone-digital/.
Social Media Connected Diagram. (2022). 99designs. Retrieved April 19, 2023, from
https://99designs.com/blog/marketing-advertising/social-media-style-guide/.
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