I’m sad.

I read the news, get sadder.

Go to the bathroom, look at the old fart in the mirror, feel much sadder,

Read vile comments, trollverse is so big,

feel even sadder, and now also angry.

Talk to people online, how far they are, feel sadder still.

But,

Then I read a funny poem,

Then I see a stupid meme,

Then you poke fun at how absurd it all is,

Then I get some music,

Then I get a friendly moment,

And it’s not so bad anymore.

You see, depression comes in daily cycles,

But joy is a different shape,

A whole..

I scroll through each post, slowly & attentively. I would hate to miss seeing a post my Aunt Claire (whom I haven’t spoken to in 10 years) put up today about her newest homemade jar of pickled green beans, the one she just recently entered into the local county fair. I made sure to like it as soon as I scrolled onto it. I surely didn’t want a reminder later from my mother, telling me to make sure to like her sister’s posts, after all her world revolved around the comments and likes and she quickly reminded me that it would help her feel more loved, especially since she had just recently became widowed after having been married to Herbert for 40 years. She said it was the least I could do. I referred to her as captain and continued to do as told. I really wanted to bash the screen in at times. I could give a crap less about an Aunt I haven’t talked to in a decade or so. But to keep my mom off my back I did it without argument.

I noticed as I continued to like random status updates that some would seem to repeat themselves. I did have quite a following and it seemed as though if one dog died that day another 1,000 followed. Was it coincidence that this happened? It was strange how I noticed this sort of pattern day after day in their social shared activities. On some days I would read about their recent bout with a nasty virus and subsequently another 500 friends would follow close behind leading me to think their surely must be an epidemic and I would be making a mental note to grab some vitamin C and Lysol next time i went to the store. On other days it was break up city and it would be one post after another of marital and relationship break ups to which I made sure to neither like nor dislike. I would plead the fifth on those particular unpleasantries. And then in the event of an election I had decided a long time ago it was of everyones best interest that I disengage from all social platforms, at all cost, so as not to cause a battle that I would be merely reckless to pursue, after all in the long run I realized it wouldn’t be worth losing clients over. Sometimes you have to know when to hold them and know when to fold them. I knew when it was time to play my cards or not and a political rant was not favorable for me or my livelihood.

In the grand scheme of things I must spend hours on end each and every day sorting through an amass of social chatter that I would clearly never quite understand. I honestly didn’t care about half of these people and I would imagine they felt the same. So I sat there and pondered it many times. I questioned my sanity and argued my intellect. I wondered why I chose to spend my time on people I barely knew for the sake of appeasing them on their short self absorbed posts, especially the doctored up selfies. Sometimes I had to look multiple times at the same picture, thinking they had one heck of a good camera or editing software because I knew good and well that my friend hadn’t taken up modeling recently but based on the photo it was evident that they were nothing short of a Rembrandt master piece. Did they truly think they had us fooled? Well I wasn’t a fool. And as quickly as I would question myself about this other place I called home. I would move on to the next social chamber. And any thought of removing myself from this virtual world of chaos would soon leave my mind. I wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon and would be an idiot to think otherwise. I was a slave to this other world. One that I lived in more than the earthly world at times. And I always would be bound to it long as it was in existence. I might as well get used to spending my days bouncing back and forth from one social media porthole to another. It was like an obsession or an addiction. I wanted to be freed by I was shackled to it by chains and the only key to unlock myself from this social damnation would be if civilization were to undergo an apocalypse of some sort. Maybe it was coming soon. We could only hope, right? Until that day comes. I will be that girl, doing as she is told. A slave tangled up in a virtual web of unrealistic reality and to her Aunt Claire’s Posts about 4H affairs and candied yams.

Social media...

The closest thing I have to social media is an account on Wattpad, and an account here on Prose. And I'm a sophomore in college.

Most people think I'm crazy, or just not a social person.

But in reality I think that social media does three things that I don't like.

1. It wastes time that could be put to better use.

2. It changes your priorities and gets you addicted to pictures, videos, and posts.

3. It sends the message that being liked is more important than being yourself.

So unless my future job requires me to have social media to keep up with memos or whatever, I'm not ever going to touch it.

By Gary Agurries

Social Media has just began and has no ends..

You don't have to know someone and your friends.

You Post the most personal look into your life

In hopes that these unknown people will give it a Like,

Your life is documented by Checking in or Tagged in a photo.

Even years after you forgot Social media won't let go.

It will take over you and consume a lot of your day and night,

You will be reading all the Memes and Gifs on multiple sites

You respond with Emojis and Stickers to relate

You’ll Snap on ears and a nose, add them to your Pic’s face.

Photos in and Instant and PM the person if you want to chat

You’ll LOL if it’s funny or BRB if your going to be right back

You can Repost someone else Post to make it your own

You can send a Selfie that’s a picture when your alone

You can Tweet, Pin, Snap, Flicker, Hashtag, Or put in a Vine

Or add to your Story, it’s another part of your Timeline.

But you still can Blogg if you have more to say

Or put it on your YouTube Channel and show them the way.

Everything is done at home behind your screen.

You can have things delivered from Amazons online shopping.

This is great I never have to face the public ever again

If you enjoyed this Post, Subscribe, Like and Be My Friend.

It was fun at first when I was twelve, playing petville and sharing dumb videos with my friends on facebook. Now I’m in college hunching over my phone, eating shrimp fries while I observe distant friends’ stories-- some are traveling abroad to countries like Peru and Japan, others are in obsecure cafes, and some, some are just with friends. Happy.

I smile at the content and then I scope around my dimly lit bedroom, fully aware of the stark difference between the screen and my surroundings. Feelings of shame and envy overcome me. But like any addict, I go back to the same posts to comfort myself.

#socialmedia #shame #envy

#facebook

Wanting.

Living IKEA

and eau de cologne.

Gold card Standards

ATM. Chip and pin

swipe and steal the bargin.

Seal the dealings of

material living. Online catalogues

with over copious variety and selection

Desires delicacies in glowing squares

of screens on knees or laps. The cadets

through gateways and secure IP’s

surf for this life of things we own

turned into definers of ourselves.

Liker’s liking, clicking niceties for

the endorphin rushes.

Satisfied with pleaser’s

relishing adulation from

the window shoppers browsing,

and being browsed

by big concerns, given to

the products well positioned for effect

to catch attention.

Objects wanted, lorded as

Impressions of Intent.

Indicators of directions

Indicating where we might be going.

How we may be owing or who we may be paying,

Each month saying it’s fine.

Due dates in time. Deadlines, declined

standing orders. Is it the real thing? ,

or is it only fizzy pop, and bubbly sparkles.

Glitter balls and gowns. Suits and ties

Denims and plastic running feet

swish. Lifestyle image galleries

of things we want to believe

have worth and are

for us worth

wanting.

Social media is good. I am so proud of words such as “tag”. Growing up I only ever heard it describing a game we used to play during recess at school or someone wanting something cheaper at the store because there was not one on the product. Now it must be said at least 10 million times on the daily. Also ” click” has made some big strides over the years. I can remember hearing it used for describing a noise someone’s car was making or maybe the description of a gun getting ready to fire, that’s about it though.

I would like to bring the hashtag to light as well. As it has moved from a big giant hand made of foam with a number one next to it at sports games. It is so popular now, seen and spoke of everywhere, even changed it’s name from “number sign”.

Plastic money has done wonders for “chip”and “swipe” as well.

There's a lot of truth in the phrase

"Keyboard warrior."

When we can't be hit or screamed at,

we say what we want.

There are no consequences.

Or so you thought.

You may hate social media, but

you can't deny that it uncovers the ugliest,

Meanest parts of human nature.

To me, it is

The sex offender radar.

The Nazi finder.

The sociopath.

The next Charles Manson's stream of thought.

Facebook fights help me identify

Who the hell I should stay away from.

I love social media because the keyboard warriors are arrogant, and finding someone's work number is easy.

While social media can be a wonderful coven of oppurtunities for teens to reach fame, social media posts from when you were a sophmore in high school can come back to haunt you when you mail your resume for a job.

There are plenty of reasons to NOT use social media, and here they are. There are plenty of stalkers out there, pretending to be 14, like you, when really, they are middle aged stalkers sitting behind a computer screen. When you post something, it stays there forever. You may think Snapchats go away after the first time you see it, but really, those can be traced and used against you in the years to come. I don’t know about you, but I prefer heart to heart discussions in real life to hashtags with strangers. Social media isn’t for everyone, and those are the reasons it isn’t for me.