Hello! It’s been more than a while since I last updated you all on my daily thoughts and adventures. I found myself deep in the throws of a vibrant law school semester with very little spare time to provide my commentary. It sure is funny how I came to creating this blog and my intent to update it daily. So much so that I set reminders for the entire semester and constantly ignored them. After much reflection and consideration, I currently am planning to commit my time to this blog as it is both an important outlet for me to express my thoughts and ideas, as well as what I hope will be a great resource for news, generic information and any other matters pertinent to today’s society.
During my Thanksgiving break, I found myself immersed in more than a few conversations regarding social media. Generally speaking, those individuals that I communicate the most with on social media are collectively tired of the drain on their day-to-day lives caused by the multitude of social media platforms. I too have been struggling recently with my commitment to social media. I look around and see a significant number of ‘fake’ interactions, false friendships, and an undying need for more ‘likes.’ After making these observations, I found myself researching the effects of social media on society. I found myself susceptible to some of the same insanity that professional researchers proclaim are taking over the lives of people.
Recently, I found a powerful tool on Facebook for raising funds during my birthday. I chose a charitable organization (my local fire department) and began a campaign to raise $200 in honor of my big day. I have since surpassed that amount with a little over one week to go for fundraising. One of the reports I read online stated explicitly that tools such as this, or others that involve advertising are a positive use of social media. However, the passive use of scanning through social media news feeds is highly detrimental to society. I fear that while I recently found the fundraising tool, my passive use has become a drain on my well-being. I was constantly comparing myself to my peers, and always feeling like, “I need to do more to keep up.”
Therefore, upon completion of my fundraiser, and once I can confirm the funds has been transferred to the organization, I am planning a re-evaluation of my social media policy/presence. I keep in contact with the same individuals through Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, text and telephone. My goal is to restrict that to LinkedIn, Instagram, text and telephone. My goal is two-fold. On one end I am seeking to limit my passive usage allowing me greater time for other more constructive means such as my blog and academics, and the other is to allow me to have more meaningful relationships with both those I know and love dearly, as well as new people that I may meet in my life’s journey. Far too often I look around at a restaurant and see the majority of people sitting together at tables with their phones out, completely ignoring those around them. My concentrated effort to have meaningful conversations and/or interactions that are completely undivided of my attention flies in the face of societal norms. I think it is a renaissance like this, that our generation needs in order to remain effective and not become stagnant, passive users of life via social media.
So with that, I look forward to keeping you all updated on how things are going. I am eager to see how this social media experiment works. Hopefully, it allows me to meet all of my goals including further improved grades over the remainder of my Law school career. So keep an eye out and let me know your thoughts along the way!
Law & Government Blog 