Is Social Media Killing Our Sense of Self?

I still remember the days when MySpace was at it's all time glory and girls were always trying to spruce up their AIM profiles and make "cute" away messages. When people posted pictures on worldisround or Yahoo Pics. When almost everyone had their own blog- as in their own Xanga or LiveJournal. I like to think this is when it all started. When the internet started booming and nearly everyone had a computer in their home (more often then not just one, so it had to be shared amongst everyone, AKA fights that could very well start WWIII). This is when people started really putting their lives on the internet. They got personal and shared everything and anyone could come along and read your story and look at what you had done that weekend. People didn't just want others to glimpse into their own personal lives, but they wanted other people looking at their lives, too. It always seemed like a contest. Who had the cooler life. Who had the prettier friends and stylish clothes. Who was going out and having the most fun.

In a way this is to be expected of most pre-teens and teens, but it seems the rise of the internet and these social networking sites made all of this that more intense and life-consuming. If you weren't the one "cyber-stalking" people then you were the one obsessed with making your internet image look it's very best. Or maybe in some cases you were both.

The world changed, the internet changed, we grew up—but this tendency to examine the lives of others and wish we had what they had continued. Kids these days are still going through the same thing my generation did, just with different social media platforms (Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, etc.) It's only natural to be a little envious sometimes. It's only natural to wonder what it'd be like to be in someone else's shoes for awhile. Our instincts are usually to reach out for more, never quite satisfied with what we have. Social media allows us to live vicariously through others. But is this more of a problem than a solution?

As a blogger, I'm putting myself out there for everyone to see. But I don't really think my life is worth envying in that sense. Who knows, though. Maybe there are people out there who look at my blog and my social media accounts and feel the same way I do towards other bloggers. I follow a lot of blogs and more often then not, especially now that my life has taken on a boring twist, I envy their lives. I envy their jobs, their apartments/homes, their family/friends, their life in general. I envy it because I want more, I've always wanted more, and I'm never satisfied with what I do have. And I hate that, I really do. I have so much to be grateful for and that I AM grateful for, but I still always find myself feeling like Jay Gatsby, reaching out towards the green light.

I wish I was more content with my own life and didn't have to sit behind a computer screen scrolling through different blogs and social media accounts to "live vicariously through others." As much as I love social media, sometimes I feel that it's really a curse on all of us. It's a constant reminder of what we don't have and what we want, of where we want to be but aren't, etc. You can be perfectly happy with your life, but even then there's a chance that you get a little bit envious of others, too. I've also read somewhere that kids these days tend to just repost images they see on Tumblr instead of actually going out and living their lives. We're all just hiding behind the internet.

I did not set out to write this post to spread a pessimistic message. Rather, I want people to be more aware of what social media does to us, because it's not always so obvious. It's so easy to allow your self-esteem to be lowered because of what you see on the internet. It's easy to lose yourself in another person's life because it remains completely anonymous. And that's a problem. Yes, it's great to have other people be an inspiration to you and it's good to have something you're reaching towards. What's not good, however, is to allow yourself to get completely lost in all of this and forget who you truly are. I want people to remember that each person is unique and everyone has something special to offer. Just because your life is not as "glamorous" or "adventurous" as someone else's doesn't make it any less worthy. I have to remind myself this plenty of times.

Be you, because no body does it better. Be proud of every single breath you take, every single step you take. Don't get so caught up in other people's lives that you forget to live your own life to the fullest.

Guest Post: Founder of Global Young Executive

I admire people who start up their own business so very much, probably because it's something I would like to see myself doing eventually. When Milly reached out to me to write a guest post for her online magazine, Global Young Executive, I was excited to be able to share her story with my readers. If you haven't noticed yet, In-Between Life focuses around following your heart and pursuing your dreams. This is especially important for people our age: the twenty-somethings. The ones who are just starting at life and have so many opportunities in front of them. I admire Milly for having the courage and determination to start her online magazine. This online magazine in particular is targeted towards young entrepreneurs, so I think many of my readers will find it useful. Check out Milly's bio below and some Q + A about Global Young Executive!

Milly Bygrave is a Business Graduate, Postgraduate Law Student and Founder of Global Young Executive magazine. Milly shares her life as a post-graduate juggling post-graduate study and running an online magazine.

1. When did you set up Global Young Executive and what motivated you?

GYE was set up in July 2014 which the aim of encouraging and inspiring young professionals to pursue their business ambitions. As a business graduate I have experienced first hand the gap between academic study and the reality of real business experience so this magazine aims to also highlight new entrepreneurial talent & connect those who are excited about business.

2. Has it been difficult juggling running a magazine and studying a postgraduate course?

It does require a lot of organisation trying to balance my time between commitments but I am also not the only one working for the magazine so we share the work between everyone. Hettie Reed is the News Review Editor & she takes on a significant role not just in her column but she has recently started sourcing people for interviews, and she works on the social media channels with me too.

3. What has been the greatest achievement of the magazine so far?

So far we have interviewed some interesting and inspirational figures in business so that is always a highlight for us. In our upcoming December issue we have US television personality sharing his views on a topical economic development so that’s very exciting. We have entered the UK Blog Awards so hopefully achieving a position in that will be our greatest achievement of 2015.

4. How does the magazine go about actively supporting young people entering the world of work?

We are partners of Global Entrepreneurship Week, an international initiative that provides the inspiration, tools and platforms for young people interested in starting their own business. Business leaders, organisations and school and universities across the globe get involved.

5.  How has running a magazine helped you as a postgraduate?

Aside from the organisation required with sourcing contributors and scheduling content, and balancing this with my postgraduate studies, having the obvious benefit of making me very disciplined with my time – which is a pretty handy in any workplace setting. It also improves all forms of your communication. I am writing emails on a daily basis to business professionals and writing articles for both my magazine and other online publications. 

Anything else you would like to add?

If any of your readers have an interest in entrepreneurialism, business and embarking on the career ladder + more, then I urge them to check out the magazine and write an article for us!

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Life Slumps

I've not only been in a blogging slump for the past week or so, but I've found myself in quite a "life slump" as well. I'm definitely not making things better by having started a new show (finally hopping on the Game of Thrones bandwagon) and playing the Sims again. My life lately has been a mix of: job applications, GoT watching, Sims playing and some babysitting on the side. I feel like I haven't done anything that's truly "productive" and that sucks. As I've mentioned before, when you're unemployed it's very easy to fall into these "slumps" and suddenly catch yourself with zero motivation to do anything close to productive. I think it also has to do with the weather getting colder and the days getting shorter. I'm not complaining about my current life situation, because I do have a lot of good things going on and I've always done my best to be grateful for what I do have in life. I do wish, however, that I had something keeping me busy. Something making my mind excited and whirling with ideas and thoughts. A lot of the times I've found that my blog helps keep my creative juices flowing, but even In-Between Life has not been able to keep me on my toes.

The thing is, I know this is just a slump. It's not forever and eventually I will snap out of it once more. It happens to everyone. Sometimes it happens more often during certain periods of your life. The best thing you can do is remind yourself that it's just temporary. Whether good or bad, most things are temporary.

I have this feeling that my slump is almost over. I can feel my creative side just itching to get out. So until then, I'll leave you with this message:

Hey, American Media: Get your shit together.

I've been wanting to write about something more "serious" lately but have been stumped with ideas. Rather, I have plenty of ideas, but every time I start to think about them and get ready to tackle the issue—I get super overwhelmed. I sometimes have the tendency to get super, super rattled up over serious issues. I'm passionate in what I believe in and I also can't stand for stupidity or ignorance. That's why as I've grown older, I unfortunately just avoid these topics all together, simply because I know what I would be getting myself into if I did provide my feedback. Well, low and behold, something has finally brought enough attention that I've decided to go ahead and write about it.

To start with: can everyone please stop talking about Kim Kardashian. Not just her butt and how it's "breaking the internet" but just her in general. She has done NOTHING productive. I still don't understand how she rose to such fame. The craziness over celebrities, especially celebrity "scandals", are absolutely ridiculous and it shames me to think that is what most Americans find news-worthy.

You know what I find news-worthy and was appalled to just recently learn about a new occurrence? School shootings. And how they keep happening. All the time. Yet, they don't appear on the news. Why aren't we being informed about every single f****** school shooting? Did you know there was a school shooting in Marysville, Washington on October 24th? Because I did not.

Now, I don't normally go on the news too often to actually search through all the happenings of the day, but when important things happen I find out about them. Yet, this wasn't on my radar. Why? And why am I just finding out about this now? You want to know why? Because they released recordings of the 911 calls. The media thinks that THIS is what the American people want. To hear the desperate and fear-filled voices of people calling 911 to report a school shooting. One that had five victims, including the shooter himself.

I don't even want to link to the news articles about this because I'm pissed off that this is what it takes to actually report on such a tragedy. I'm pissed off that something so horrible keeps happening all across America and in a place where CHILDREN should feel safe. Instead of addressing gun laws and mental health issues, the government seems to only care about how to re-structure the American school system (which p.s. is not working whatsoever).

So, basically, stop talking about stupid things like Kim's ass and start educating yourself on the real issues our country is facing. Because here's a fun fact: You have the power to vote and change laws that affect the important issues. You do not have the power to choose whether or not Kim's ass is all over the internet.