Sunday, April 29, 2012

The New Peer Pressure

My intention in this post is not to point blame at social media for whatever strife it may bring to my life. Rather, I point the finger at myself for falling into a trap I have no intention of climbing out of in the near future.  After a recent experience with a young woman whom some liken as a sister of mine, I realized that I put myself in a "stupid" situation with the hopes of being "tagged" in a post and out of fear of missing out on something...anything.  Upon further inspection, it came to my attention that the aforementioned desires are often motivation for my going along with things that I would generally deem "a waste of time".  It is the desire to take part in the most famous social network site of our time that tells me, "I don't know if I will have fun at this, but at least I will be tagged in photos and status updates!"  Those reading this likely know exactly what I am talking about.  I recognize the foolishness of this dilemma, but I am compelled to continue with such behavior.  On countless occasions I yearn for the opportunity to look as enthralled as the faces I see in photos on the most popular site visited by young adults.  I await the chance to be notified that I was a recognized participant in whatever late-night activity proposed by my peers no matter how "lame" the event may turn out to be.  Again, I do not blame social media for doing this to me.  Rather, I felt it was time to come clean to myself and those who are in the same boat as I am.