Last week I wrote a paper for my Spanish class on the cause and effects of social media among the Millennial generation. At first, I picked the topic because I knew I had enough Spanish vocabulary under my belt regarding technology and social media to express myself in a four-page paper. However, the more I wrote, the more I realized that being a part of Generation Y has a huge impact on how I reason and perceive reality.
It’s no surprise the statistics have shown that Generation Y kids have the largest social media presence with over 70% of Millenials checking Facebook each hour according to GenerationY.com.
I was born into a generation of constant updaters, over sharers, selfie-professionals and “liking” aficionados. I was born into a generation where your online presence arguably has more merit than your “real life”.
While I’m no stranger to taking thousands of Snapchat selfies, Instagram uploads or twitter updates, it’s clear that my generation as a whole may be a little too obsessed.
When going out at ASU, one of the most common phrases you will hear (especially among girls) is “Let’s take a picture I can 'Insta'!” or even “That’s so funny, I’m going to tweet that!”
It becomes clear that sometimes we Generation Y kids only do or say things to make themselves seem cooler or to portray a certain image over social media. There even was a trending image on twitter saying, “If you didn’t tweet or 'Insta' it, did it really happen at all?”
I think it’s important to go offline on occasion and live in reality instead of attempting to perfect your online presence. We would save so much time if we didn’t feel the need to constantly obsess over finding the perfect filter or taking a selfie in the right lighting.
While social media and my presence online is extremely important to me as an aspiring journalist, I do want to focus on spending less time online and more time focusing on my life outside the screen. The bucket list challenge gives me the perfect opportunity to do so.
For this weeks bucket list challenge I want to see what it’s like to go completely off the map on social media (aside from the social media input I need for my journalism classes) and go “offline” for a week.
On a side note, I’m on day 7 of my no fast food challenge for 30 days. I have been eating super healthy and eating good meals. I have been eating a ton of berries, yogurt and vegetables. I definitely feel a lot healthier by not including junk food into my diet.
Stay tuned for Thursday’s post when I will update you on my week without social media.
Reach the columnist at kassidylee01@gmail.com or on Twitter @kassmcdonald.
