Social Networks and Real Life

People have this whole social network thing misconstrued. Social networking is supposed to help us build relationships with people and explore new things. Instead, we use it as a tool to belittle ourselves and others and then we show this image of belittlement to the world. In this day and age we are becoming what our social networks portray. I am one of those people who only takes pictures on their good days, I only post when I feel like it and if I feel like posting something that's out of my usual element, I post it anyway. I am mindful of what I do and say on the internet simply because I am protective of my reputation. I never want for someone to mistake who I am for what I post because now-a-days people don't know the difference however, I don't set limits for myself. At the end of the day, what you put into this world is an extension of who you are. The only difference between what you do in real life and what you do on social media is that social media lasts a lot longer. Needless to say, I try to conduct myself on the web the same way I do in real life: with a filter.

I don't believe everyone deserves to know the "whole" you. A select few deserve that type of responsibility however not everyone you may encounter! This is especially true on social networks. It's not necessary that you share your every move, your every step, or everything you and your significant other have ever done on Instagram or Facebook. It's not okay for us to see your break-ups and your beefs and all of your happy and sad moments through posts. What is left for you to share with the people who actually care about you? Or for the people who care AT ALL for that matter? My generation has an ongoing problem that I refuse to be a part of and that is sharing every detail of their life through social media.

I know somebody is sitting here looking like "I know she's not talking!" Trust me, I get it all the time. "You travel a lot!" "You and your boyfriend do everything together! Y'all are so cute!" "I see you're having a great time at ___" and so on and so forth. Believe me when I tell you, I barely post about what is actually going on in my life. Sure, I love showing the world that I am in love with my best friend. I love posting pictures of places I've gone, places I'm going, and the things I do. When I get cute, I become the selfie queen and no one can tell me otherwise. HOWEVER, I never share complete details of my life. My social networks won't tell you when I am hurting or dealing with major issues. You'd have to really now me and follow me on more than one to get even the most remote idea of what I truly feel. You may know what I am doing but you will never know my life.

It all boils down to this: I wholeheartedly believe that the way to portray WHO YOU ARE is NOT through consistently posting and updating every detail of your life through social media. I want people to see me for who I am and understand me at a level that they wouldn't normally get to see through things like Instagram, Facebook, and Tumblr and so I use my blog to share a deeper side of me. But even here, I still choose my words wisely.

So my question(s) to you is: What do people know about you through social media? What is the image of yourself that you portray to the world? Are you telling the world too much?