Why I Use Social Media, and How it Influences my Daily Life/ blog 7

Social media is a very risky thing to use- we release photos of ourselves voluntarily to the disposal of anyone who has the same app. I have constantly heard from my friends that their parents restrict their use of social media, and that they discouraged their use of it because of this. However, this was never the case for me. My parents, in fact, encouraged my use of social media.

My parents have to update their social media (Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, all of the sort) around twice each day to maintain a relevant presence for their work. If they fail to keep up with it, they will be punished at work. Social media is a lifeline to who they are on air and how well they are doing their job. Social media is like a prison- they are glued to their phones, trying to rack up as many comments on Facebook as they can. They really don't recognize this, and have encouraged me to stay on social media to keep in touch with their lives and those around me. In fact, they made me a Facebook around 3 years ago to contact my family, who all live at least 1,500 miles away.

Social media has become, once again, my lifeline and my parents lifeline- I depend on it to keep in touch with my family from afar, they rely on it for work and family, and so forth. I am upset that I have become so dependent on it, but my family and I have formed an emotional connection with social media. We associate it with family and connection. My family and I are glued to our screens every day, so focused on what we aren't there to see instead of what is in front of us- each other. I wouldn't want to change a thing, though- and that is what the social media companies want. Every user that joins is another dollar in their pocket from advertising. They benefit off of the lack of connection we all have, and that has to change.