*Posting this in advance; hiatus shall commence on New Year’s Eve* (01.01.17 – 12.31.17) I do not exactly remember when I started using social media and blogging platforms… Was it 2004 when I signed up for Friendster and MySpace? I was only 13! Then came WordPress, BlogSpot and later on, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr. I was pretty much a late bloomer in terms of Internet usage. While my classmates busied themselves with ‘chat rooms’, I was basically just reading books – I wasn’t much of an online talker. Typing to communicate was such a chore. I’d rather talk over the phone – at least I get real-time responses. What actually appealed to me was blogging. Since I have always wanted to be a known author or writer, I fell in love with the thought of having an online channel and online readers – from all around the world! I have made decent relationships with friends I’ve met online, and if not for the Internet, I wouldn’t be able to cross paths with them. However, I can say I am not happy with how I spend my time on these social media platforms. They are so entertaining and sometimes, annoying – depends on what’s currently happening with the rest of the world. I long for those days when checking my messages is not the first thing I concern myself with upon waking up. I have never really counted how many ‘likes’ my posts get – and I wouldn’t want to reach that point. Some people do, no matter how much they hide it. I become easily affected with comments that people leave on my posts, even if some of them are just trying to be funny but the jokes are delivered wrongly, or they just simply do not tickle my fancy. I feel attacked when people who aren’t decent enough to tell me off talk about me openly on their profiles. I feel off when I see killings and other crimes on my dashboard. Little by little, I get consumed with all the concerns of the world and it’s not doing well on my psyche. Some people might think that I am being inordinately dramatic but I’d like to believe that I’m just choosing to address this issue that is social media and I’m starting with me. I know that there are certain aspects of me that I need to work out on such as patience, love, understanding and generosity to name a few and I can only improve them by being more ‘present’ offline. I have nothing against social media platforms, but what I am against is the fact that I fail to see them as just that: platforms. How many hours have I wasted scrolling what I considered to be ‘interesting’ and ‘encouraging’ or ‘eye-opening’ posts by both friends and strangers? I started noticing that the posts I like are not even that significant – it was more of a reflex thing, a force of habit. With this year-long hiatus, I am hoping that I would once again appreciate what I see, both online and in person. I am excited to have decent conversations with people who would exert effort and time to just reach out to me. I know not a lot of people use their emails nowadays and this is also why I’m choosing to communicate through emails. I am actually against having to use Skype and Viber but I just can’t cut ties with my relatives and bosses, can I? Though, the thought is quite tempting. Kidding. So, with that said, I pray for each one of you to have a better year than this one we just had. We lost a lot of good people, dealt with a lot of negativity, handled a lot of crap, and tried to make sense of certain events and circumstances. However, we also fought some great battles, made amends with people who matter, took once in a lifetime opportunities, indulged in deep conversations, embraced possibilities, and improved some aspects of our lives – just like what we do yearly. With this hiatus, I am sure to miss out on a lot of information – both good and bad, significant and trivial. But that’s actually what excites me the most, to be honest. I pray you find more ways to be productive and social – not just online. May you be filled with positivity and strength to face the hardships that the new year has in store for all of us. May you continue to live, love, laugh, and just be the real you despite what the rest of the world say. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!
vaporwave
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