From the Editor
Keeping it “real” in a virtual world of smoke and mirrors can be quite a balancing act. I’m talking about social media. We’ve gone from a world without high-speed internet 20 years ago to a society that sends billions of pictures out to the World Wide Web daily. We live in an information age where anything can be put on the internet for the world to see at the click of a button. Whether it’s real or not is left up to our human minds to decide.
Years ago, someone stopped me at swim class to tell me that my world seemed perfect from what she saw on Facebook and that she wished she had a life like mine. As I picked my jaw up off the floor, I hugged her and told her the truth: – that my life was as real, messy, and wild as anyone else’s. I laughed at the thought that if people knew my day-to-day life up close, they’d probably be sending me sympathy cards.
The truth is, no matter how authentic you are on the internet, it’s never the whole picture, and it shouldn’t be. Not everything is for everyone. Social media has changed in ways we might never be able to put into words. Since the days of MySpace and the onset of Facebook in the early 2000s, social media has taken the idea of “Keeping Up With The Joneses” to an entirely new level.
The existence of social media can often be bittersweet. We love the ability to connect with readers week after week and deliver exciting stories for your reading enjoyment. It gives us the opportunity to stay visually connected to our friends and family members who move away, announce new babies, get married, or are grieving. In a sense, it’s given us a new form of connection to one another. When used for the right reasons, the internet can be a wonderful place to showcase the best parts of your life.
On the flip side, we can share, crop, filter, and spin whatever we’d like, to weave the story in the way we want others to see it. Like most people, my life is filled with daily challenges, unforeseen stressors, and emotionally challenging moments. Not all of that makes it to Facebook, of course. Most of these little moments are handled with the help and love of people in my inner circle: the people who would exist in my life if social media ceased to exist.
Nonetheless, I love to tell my friends about new hiking trails, dog beaches, boating adventures, and restaurants I’ve enjoyed, as social media is meant for sharing. But, no matter how you cut it, what you see on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, etc., is a mirage. It’s a piece of someone’s story layered with filters and carefully curated captions.
As much as I know others couldn’t begin to understand my real life based on what I put on Facebook, I understand that the people I follow are just doing the best they can as well. We’re all just making the most of this life with the tools we’ve been given.
Next time you see me or anyone else post something a little more “messy” than the filtered posts we’re used to, show them a little extra love. It’s hard to be vulnerable and real. It’s not easy to show the bigger picture, but oftentimes, someone on the other side of the post will read what you have to say and feel a little less alone. Remember, though, that what you see on anyone’s feed is only what they choose to share. They say, “Comparison is the thief of joy,” and that rings true for this topic. Please remember, as you’re scrolling social media, that your life and your joy are the only things that truly matter in your world. The rest of it is just for show. Make some time this week to put the phone down and refocus on what’s important and real in your own beautiful world.
Thank you for reading this edition of Shore Local Newsmagazine. Please be sure to stop by the Wahoo section for your weekly entertainment guide, show some love to our amazing advertisers, and follow us on social media at @shore_local on Instagram and Shore Local Newsmagazine on Facebook.
Peace & Love,
Cindy
