a no-social day, maybe @ reflection

this week, i received a “Social Butterfly” badge from my class, which was meant for someone who can interact with their peers across multiple social media platforms.

however, despite being a social butterfly and being completely comfortable with using social media for both learning and non-learning purposes, I am not always up and running.

many of our classmates have mentioned social fatigue and internet fatigue this week, and i, too, have it all.

but, as an international student living alone in the United States, i guess the need to be connected, at least with my family, is still there and strong; there isn’t a day that goes by that i’m not on social media updating my friends and family on their lives. my parents, believe it or not, are having a fantastic time on social media, with lots of interaction from their peers. and seeing those interactions warms my heart.

so my no-social day will actually mean that i will not be using the public account that I normally use! in other words, i have multiple social media accounts!

as an example, consider Instagram. this platform has done an excellent job of allowing their users to seamlessly switch between different accounts without having to log out and log in (i always have a hard time remembering all of the passwords that i created and am sometimes too lazy to log the password into the password manager, which is definitely not recommended).

so, Instagram! i have four different accounts on Instagram with different purposes:

(1) 29mbr.pub: the just-recently open book as a result of one of my class assignment. this 100% public account is supposed to follow very few people due to a sensitivity that other people can always see who i am following. this account will serve as a “information distribution” site or will allow me to connect with my public readers.

(2) 29mbr: a private account for casual connections with whom i am comfortable sharing all aspects of my life. this is also the first Instagram account I’ve created. the follower lists are a little jumbled, but i’m okay with that because it tells stories about my growing up journey.

(3) 29mbr.survivalmode: when i decided to study in the US, specifically FSU, i created this account solely for the purpose of researching FSU and the US. this account discusses everything I’ve seen/loved/hated about this journey. this account follows every Instagram accounts owned by FSU or affiliated with FSU in order to create customized newsfeeds for me to keep up with what’s going on on campus. people who follow me on this account are hand-picked, around ten, with whom I am completely comfortable being an annoying person lol.

(4) 29ember: my super-private account, where it’s just me and my two dearests. this is where I shared about my darkest moments. this account is considered my online diary, and i make sure to control the feeds to circle around what heals my inner child, e.g: cats, art, or Pokemon. xD.

so on no-social days, I’m still on social media, but in my private account – my rabbit hole – my ultimate safe place to mindlessly scroll and write.

while talking with a lot of “digital natives,” many of them shared the same patterns: having multiple accounts serving different purposes, and that a no social day is simply turning off notifications and logging in your comfortable account.

because the need to be connected is there, and sometimes, social media is the only way that we find these connection.

do you feel like your life without social media is enough connection and learning? if it is, trust me, you have already had a blessing life!

i’m concluding this blog with a question: have you ever felt like your life is still filled with connections and learning without social media? If the answer is yes, i would say your life is truly blessed.