Week 10: My Relationship with Social Media

This week's reading and lectures made me pay closer attention to the social media I post and consume. 

I made an observation about myself recently: ever since coming home from my mission (February 2019), I haven't posted on my social media platforms as much as I used to. I'm not totally sure why, but here are a few of my thoughts and feelings related to posting things on social media:

• I stress trying coming up with a caption to go with the picture I'm considering posting
• I don't want people knowing so much about my life- its private to me
• I worry about how people will perceive me and my life based on what I post
• I want to be sensitive to my audience and avoid posting something that might offend or annoy someone

(https://adaa.org/learn-from-us/from-the-experts/blog-posts/consumer/thoughts-are-just-thoughts)

So, in order to avoid reasoning with all of that, I just don't post! Even though that is one way to go about this dilemma, in truth, I want to be more confident and secure about posting on social media. If I want to post to express or celebrate something, I should! I think my insecurities indicate that I have quite a few things I need to work through. For example, in order to not worry about how people perceive me on social media, I need to be less judgmental about what other people post. 

Regarding the social media I consume, this week I went through the list of accounts I follow on Instagram and unfollowed or muted the accounts I feel like have a negative affect on me. I am also excited to be a more critical thinker on social media! I want to change the way I use social media as a tool.