How Social Media Has POSITIVELY Impacted My Life.

All that is ever talked about nowadays is the negative sides of social media and how it is destroying our youth, but I believe that a lot of positive things can happen through social media. Although there are the negative sides of social media, such as the anonymity of cyberbullying and the pressures to have the ideal body type, since social media is not going to be going anywhere any time soon, people need to learn on how to embrace social media so that we can make it a more positive experience for many more people.

For me, I started on social media when I was in middle school. I was 13 years old when I had gotten my first phone, and I had the freedom to do whatever I wanted on it. At that young of an age, I think I was just playing the games that came on my phone and having weird conversations with my friends. It wasn't until I started college when I began to use social media in a more beneficial and positive way. One of the positive ways I have used social media was connecting with people in other areas with similar interests. When I was doing CrossFit competitions, I would meet people from all over the area who had inspired me and we would stay in touch mainly on Instagram. We were able to share our lives with one another, both inside and outside of the gym, by encouraging one another and building that online friendship. We would share with one another life events going on, a new lift PR or just a simple "how is your day going" conversation.I

With this creation of social media, so many people get to speak up and have a voice that they never knew that they had. We see news headlines every day on how someone has started a campaign online to bring awareness to something that they are passionate about.

Social media has allowed everyone to put whatever they want to out into this world, not just art and music, but simple things like pictures of their dog or their own opinion.

Social media has positively impacted me by allowing me to express the way that I want to express myself, and also having all these different outlets to showcase these things. I am able to express myself through this blog. At first my intentions were to just share what was going on in my life, previous events and topics I found interesting to talk about. By using social media, I am able to reach out to a variety of people, of all ages, and connect with them in ways I didn't think was possible. I am truly blessed by the positive and motivational feedback I have received from those who reach out - it brings me pure joy. If I am able to inspire or motivate at least one person by using my social media, then I am ecstatic. Instead of focusing on the negatives, I like to think that social media has allowed not only me, but so many people, the ability to learn, grow and share ourselves with the world.

- B