Where are my fellow gen z's at?
I remember getting my first iPod when I was about 13. First thing downloaded on it was Selena Gomez's "When the Sun Goes Down" album. Remember when you had to buy songs individually on iPods? Classic.
Vine was when I got into social media. Vine was heaven, and it's a real shame it's gone. Then came Instagram and Snapchat. Two apps that really changed the game. And if you're old enough, you remember YikYak and Ask.fm ( Two of the worst apps ). Beginning of high school was right around the time when kids were dropping out of high school and college to become famous for vlogging, videography, modeling, or just being cute on Vine (MAGCON). It was like the ultimate dream for everyone, I swear. Social media became a way of life for people. Twenty years ago, David Dobrik would not have been giving away as many Tesla's as he has if it weren't for social media. Facts.
When this social media "revolution" hit, I idolized a lot of people, and probably to the point where it was unhealthy. I wanted to be people to a T, and I'll admit that I still do get really stuck on wanting to be other people, but I blame society and social media. To start off, Alexis Ren. If you don't know her, I think she's one of the most perfect human beings on this planet. She has the body, the lifestyle, the fame and the confidence that I crave so badly. But it shouldn't be that way. I find myself on Instagram for hours at a time scrolling through girls profiles, comparing every last thing about girls to myself. The clothes they wear, the color of their hair, how many followers they have, the edits on their pictures, their body shape, facial features, length of their hair, the content they post. And then I go to their friends' profile and compare the same things again. It's like this crazy cycle that never stops, and then you're sitting there shaming yourself and feeling horrible about yourself because you aren't that person. You are nothing like that person and you want to be every ounce of what they are. Why though? Maybe then you start dieting to have the same body as them, or get your hair done the same or you physically alter yourself in any way to be more like someone else and less like "you". How fucked up is it that we change ourselves? I can't believe the lengths people go to. Why do we try to be other people when other people are likely trying to be us? Ask yourself that. And it's not just girls, it's guys too. Beauty standards now are out of this world. I do see standards changing for the better very slowly, and I see society becoming more accepting, but I think being skinny and having model like features will always be a superior standard. How do we live up to that? Why has it not been un-normalized yet?
My second point is about dating. Yay. So...I hate dating apps. I think they are some of the most pathetic apps ever. You're shopping for people pretty much? Are you looking for a puppy or a significant other??? Idk. If you use dating apps in a serious way, you are desperate. I am so sorry to be telling you this but it's true. What happened to people meeting in person and talking in. person.?? And asking people on dates? Like real dates. Not Netflix and chill. And chivalry? What happened to people writing love letters and showing up on your doorstep to see if you were home? What happened to couples hanging out together without always staring at their phones. What happened to just remembering memories? Why does everything have to be recorded? Why does every mf reaction a person has, have to be recorded? I actually hate it. Isn't there something special about only having memories to yourself that no one else knows? You just remember in your head. Tangent over, back to dating apps. I just don't think I could get myself to download dating apps ever. I will not be telling my kids that I "matched" with someone on Tinder and then flirted over text message, nope. No. Never. It's like the most unromantic, unattractive thing ever. Don't you want a cool story of how you met? A story about how you met in college and you had classes together and you had late nights of studying. Or how you moved to a new city all on your own and you met at a coffee shop. Or maybe you met at a party, or a concert, or traveling. I refuse to meet someone online. It will not be my story. Put yourself out there. Go meet people. They did it hundreds of years ago, so you can do it now. Period. Don't be an actual loser.
I'm not here saying that social media is completely horrible. There are numerous ways that it has helped people, businesses and the economy. But I don't always think it's used in the right ways. It's manipulative, scary, deceiving, misleading and harmful. It's a distraction to our lives. It's taking away our time. My time. Your time. Think about it. You spend all this time on your phone looking at all of these different social media platforms, for what? Why aren't you out living your life? You can't tell me you've never sat in bet for two hours watching TikTok. Why are we so focused on other people's lives? How has social media actually benefitted you from spending hours on your phone looking at someone else's life? Quit worrying about how you look, you follower counts, picture likes. Quit snapchatting people and ask them to actually hang out. Quit trying to be someone you're not. And for the love of god, delete Tinder.
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