What was I looking for in the social media? In this pandemic, the world stopped. Gone were the days when we go out freely all we want. Gone were the days when we go to the malls do some leisure activities outside when we get bored and stay late at night if we want. Gone were the days when we choose the right shade of the lipstick we want. Gone were the days when we go to the groceries without any schedule. Gone were the days when we hear mass in the church physically. Yes, COVID is everywhere. If we are doing our usual social routines, we might be submitted to the death sentence.
You might consider someone asymptomatic to be lucky. However he or she might transmit the virus to others. That's why I engaged in social media because yes, I am missing my friends. I want to know how they are coping things right now. I would also want to reminisce the pre-COVID19 times as well. Oh, so cheesy. I also want to gather some updates about what is happening in the province, country and the whole world right now. COVID19 has no cure yet. I am still yearning for miracles.
I met my expectations. However, it seems like everything goes wrong. Instead of the needed informations I wanted, the things surrounding my news feed seemed to be harmful to my self especially my mental health. I read some fake news. What is hype recently is the fight between politicians and health care workers. Yes, there is. I hope it will just end in the social media rants. I tried logging out my facebook account. However it was unsuccesful. My colleagues were even fighting in facebook messenger account. I can't let go of my messenger account since it is where I mostly reach out to my friends and loved ones. SMS messaging is not a hype anymore. Well my only "textmate" is my boyfriend. He doesn't have any facebook account (He is one of the less than 5% of the people in this world). Without him, why would I spend for load? SMS was useful for my residents and consultants but I am not in the frontline right now. There were concepts by my own colleagues that were against my principle but I urged myself not to fight and just keep quiet. I don't to torture my mental health and that might be not ideal in my review. Social media is toxic nowadays.
Then I thought of the good times back then. I am one of the millenials. However, my generation witnessed the transition of technology especially internet. We tried playing outdoors in our childhood like patintero, tumbang preso and tagu-taguan in our childhood. I grew up seeing my parents using newspapers and television as their mode of media. We watched local primetime shows back then. Then when I was a Grade 5 student, my sister oriented me about internet in an internet cafe at Ayala Center Cebu. I still remember that the cost was around 50 pesos per hour that time. She made my very first email address which is not existing right now. Those were so simple. I was already delighted to use the search engine in yahoo or google. Hindi pa uso ang chat. I look forward in receiving emails. The "Daemon.com" thing I received after emailing a wrong email address gave me anxiety way back then.
Then there goes high school wherein our hype was going to internet cafes to make projects and we learned friendster. Receiving testimonials were hype with sparkling GIFs. We were also competing towards the best friendster profile with matching background music. I also made some multiply account for my photo albums. This blogger is the only one left for those times. Yes, we can access them at internet cafe at such limited time. I also joined in Symbianize forums to connect to various people in the country. It was during my 2nd year high school that I had a personal computer at home with broadband access. However, unlike today's convenience, I still have to switch on my PC. I will not be online in school. My phone was purely for SMS. I still remember that there was H1N1 epidemic. I only sought information via television or newspapers.
To make the long story short, there was evolution of smart phones that connect via WIFI. Facebook was born which started with Pet Society and Friends for Sale. Friendster, Symbianize and Multiply were gone. Right now social media is the main platform for communication.
Those were good times. Since I am preparing for my ticket towards my license, for the love of my mental health and myself. I decide to live as if it is 2006 to 2010. I shorten my contact time in social media. I even installed an application called AppBlock that blocks websites and applications against productivity if I am tempted to open. Settings are my own preference of course. Right now, I stick to the television or just few of the reliable news websites (not linked from facebook) to keep me updated.
Yes, social media is convenient. However, abusing its convenience makes it toxic. What is important is to think before you click. Lawsuits could be a one type and click away. Aside from avoiding lawsuits, you prevent to hurt others' feeling as well. It might spread and kill as COVID19.
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