The social media I use are Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and Tumblr.  I have been using social media since I was in elementary school. It all started with MSN messenger and MySpace. I enjoyed MSN because I was able to speak to my cousins from Mexico and Guatemala as well as my best friend at the time who lived one block over. As for MySpace, I always had to make sure  I had the coolest background designs and only the best songs for my playlists. Social media was exciting for me at the time and continued to be as I went through grade school.

Nowadays, I use Instagram to keep up with friends and family. I post selfies to look back to a few years from now. I also enjoy posting about things that I like. I post about my favorite poets and important topics to me such as social rights. I enjoy posting memories I would like to remember and share with my followers such as concerts and adventures with my friends. The likes and comments are nice as well. Studies show that the brain actually releases dopamine when we see a like or a comment in our notifications. That’s not the case for me, however.

Snapchat was my favorite form of social media. I enjoy posting and saving my entire story at the end of the day. Now I post when I feel something is interesting enough to share or to show beautiful views. I’m trying to use Snapchat less and capture memories on my own. I would rather be more present in these important moments in my life and obtain the full experience. Not just one through a camera lens.

Comic relief is the main thing I obtain from Twitter. I get my news from there sometimes. I get to see all the memes and funny videos that are trending. I post about small funny instances that occur in my life. But mostly I post song lyrics or I quote my favorite lines from books I read. I share them because when I hear or read a line that makes me feel something, I share it in hopes that it touches someone else the same way.

I am at a crossroads with social media and what it means to me. I want to make sure I control the power it has over my life. When I post I feel as if I’m expressing myself through images and text. With social media, there’s always an audience and that can be a little frightening. Before, I was never too confident and feared what people would say about what I posted. Now I have more confidence in myself and my interests and I’m looking forward to using social media as more of a platform.