Relationships on social media

Relationships on Social Media

Social Media isn't always the best way to communicate. Things can escalate really quickly.

Sometimes when talking to friends or anyone online it is easy to fall out especially when we have the disadvantage of only seeing their words in text rather than hearing them and seeing the expressions on their faces. It is very easy to type out a hurtful message and hit send without really considering the meaning or consequences of your words. 

Things to remember when communicating online.... 

Don't send anything rude or hurtful to people online 
Remember people can only see your words, they can not hear them or see your expressions. Screen shots can easily be taken and sent around and before you know it a small little issue has turned into a massive one, involving a lot more people than necessary.

Don’t let social media interrupt your time when you are with your friends!  

I am sure many of you have experienced a time when you are all together as friends but rather than talking to one another you are texting someone else! Value the time you are with people.

Whatever you say online leaves a footprint

In heated arguments it is easy enough to throw the odd comment about like ' kill yourself' 'I WISH YOU WOULD JUST DIE!' However these comments are taken very very seriously and can easily be taken to court. You may not have meant to literally 'go and kill yourself' however the words are still there and are taken very seriously by the police. The words are damaging and hurtful to the victim and little does the person know whether you are actually being serious or not. 

Good relationships on social media/ positives

Social media can be great!
It is a great gate-way into meeting new people easily and without those first time slightly awkward face to face conversations which I'm sure we have all experienced.

Social media is a great way of keeping in contact with friends and family especially when you can't always be together.

When used in a positive way social media can strengthen relationships and help create new relationships! It allows you to communicate with loved ones when you can't always be together due to work/ school and it enables long distance relationships to actually work! 

Social media has BILLIONS of people using it all of whom are either girls, boys, women, men of all different ethnicities, religions, colours, races, shapes and sizes. There is someone for everyone; you just need to find your special someone! Social media is the perfect window for doing so!

      

                                       Bad relationships on social media/ negatives

Social media can put a lot of extra stress on relationships. When dating in today's Instagram-Facebook-Twitter-addicted world, you have to be aware of how social media can affect your relationship. With all of the privacy of social media, it's sometimes impossible not to think about the fact that your significant other might be inappropriately liking someone else's photos on Instagram or sending them DMs on Twitter. It's a lot to stress about, especially if you're in a new relationship or have been cheated on in the past. Odds are, whether you'd like to admit it or not, if you're dating someone, you've thought about their social media habits before. Maybe you will get lucky and neither you or your partner will have a Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat, but the likelihood of that happening is rare. 

https://www.bustle.com/articles/103105-how-social-media-can-affect-relationships-plus-6-red-flags-to-look-out-for


Human beings need people and need to socialise as it is a part of being human. No one likes to be lonely. Social media is a great way of finding unlimited amounts of people easily and quickly to talk, chat and stalk. Unfortunately as social media grows people are becoming more and more addicted to it and are replacing their real life connections for virtual ones, spending less time with their friends, family and people around them. Look at this picture below, I bet every single one of you have seen multiple scenarios such as this...

HOW  HAS  SOCIAL  MEDIA  AFFECTED  ME ?

I was born and raised over half of my life in Nepal and I grew up being the most stereotypical Asian kid. I was a straight A student, I was good at sports and I LOVED maths and my typical school day would look something like this, I would wake up early, eat, study, go to school, come back from school, do my homework, eat, do more homework and sleep. I had no time for social media, in fact I had no social media, mainly because I was 9 and my parents wouldn’t have let and also because I didn’t have phone. When I moved to New Zealand I continued my studying habits and my parents tried as much as possible to push me to the best I can do. 

 As I grew older and older I started detaching from my study routine. I got my first phone, I made a Facebook account and sooner or later I made a Instagram, snapchat, twitter the list goes on. I felt the pressure for me to post every couple of hours on one of these platforms. I slowly got more and more addicted to my phone, more particularly social media. I started to spend more time on my device than I did studying. I saw my grades go down, I started to lose interest in what I loved doing.

 I started being so obsessed with what my Instagram feed looked like or how many followers I had I stopped concentrating in class most times. Every time the teacher was writing on the board or busy helping another student out came the phone as I would immediately go on some sort of social media platform, either messaging or snapchatting  one of my friends, listening to music, watching a video on YouTube or I would be on Instagram or Facebook scrolling down the news feed.  Sooner or later the teacher would notice me and let me off with a warning that my device will be confiscated next time. The device then would disappear until I would find the next opportunity to pull it out again.

I was so addicted to my device I couldn’t resist going on it. And even in those times when I did feel motivated to actually study I would always keep my phone with me and get distracted by the notifications and would give up half way through and go on Instagram instead. By the end of all of this my daily routine started to become so bad the first AND last thing I would do was go on my phone. I would be in my phone till 2 – 3 in the morning until my eyes were in so much physical pain and were so tired I couldn’t look at my screen for a second more. This was when I was 12.
 
Every day I felt like as if my eyes were getting weaker and weaker. I was so used to looking down at my screen when ever I looked up everything was so blurry, I could not see.

Fast forward to about a year later of repeating the same routine over and over again I finally decided to get my eyes checked and when I did they told me that I needed glasses and that I could not go on my phone for any more than 3 hours daily. They told me so many fascinating facts about why my eyes needed glasses which in a way was kind of scary. It was kinda like a smack in the face of reality and it was a huge eye opener for me. And I know this sounds so dramatic but so many thoughts started to flood my brain about all the decisions I made that led me to this day, there were so many other things I  could've done instead of going on my phone which could've prevented that day from happening. The ophthalmologist was so convincing about how I needed to stop spending so much time on my device I actually listened to her and I drastically stopped using my device. 

I really wanted to get back on the right track if that makes sense, I started to read more instead of going on my device, I started to actually turn my phone off and listen to what the teacher is saying
in class, I stared to gain back my social skills with my family and friends and till this day on I have tried my very best to keep up this habit and of course, I fail time to time but I am still recovering and sooner or later I am going to get back on track and regain what I used to have and that was good connections with my family and friends, good grades and much more less time on my phone + social media.  

How does social media change you?

Is social media changing you?

We interviewed a range of Facebook users from a teenager's friend list to gather personal information about why and how they use social media. We were surprised by the results. We thought more people would say what we expected to hear rather than telling the truth!

We found it most surprising that most people preferred to talk to people online.
We weren't surprised by why people preferred talking online rather than in person, however, as they felt more confident and we could relate to that.

From our results we have found that people appreciate social media and know that it has changed our lives in a mainly positive way.

Insta-Artists

At 11 years old,  I took the huge risk of putting myself out there. I was uncomfortable at first, I wasn’t used to sharing my art. Even in person, I never really liked sharing my art with other people. I never really knew taking this risk could lead to something life changing.  

The internet world can be a scary place, there are definitely times when the internet isn't great. But, the online world can give you the opportunity to share your talents and things that you love to do. For many artists, social media has created such a huge impact on their lives and it's become an online gallery for them.  More specifically, Instagram. Not only Instagram but other social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr etc.  

My story begins with my love of art. I've always loved art, ever since I was in kindergarten. Through my primary years I wasn't very passionate about art, until I discovered Kristina Webb. (@colour_me_creative) An internet sensation artist. I found her on Instagram at the age of 10. Yes, 10 years old. Crazy right? After following her for a year I realized how creative and amazing her art was. I came across one of her fan pages and thought I should make one too!  

October 2014 I posted my first picture of Kristina's artwork, I shared more photos of her artwork days after. After two days of having that account, Kristina followed. I FREAKED OUT! I CRIED SO MUCH! Then I started to post regularly. The more I supported her, the more I fell in love with her art. I was so inspired, I wanted to create my own art as well. March 26, 2015, I posted my first artwork inspired by Kristina. I received so many positive comments, even though I thought it wasn’t very good, in my opinion. Overall I had about 300+ likes and a lot of positive comments. 

October 8 2015, I posted my second artwork of a challenge I did in Kristina’s book ‘Color Me Creative.’ This time, I got a comment from Kristina. Let's just say, I “fangirled”. Over the years, I barely posted any artwork, but I've always had the thought of creating an art account.  

February 2017, I created my first art account. I shared an eye drawing, comparing how much I have improved over 8 months. I got so many positive comments, it was amazing! It motivated me to create more art. I still look back at those comments and it always puts a smile on my face. 

Positive 

The online art community is incredibly supportive. It's an inspiring world of artists, where you can get a range ideas. You get noticed by famous artists and get your art featured. You get an amazing amount of support and suggestions on how you can improve. There's always positive vibes, and barely any negativity.  

Negative  

Having an art account can be great, but one of the hardest things about running one is posting regularly. A lot of people expect you to post often, with new art pieces. I believe art takes time and I find it hard to post all the time, especially when I have school.  

When you post something online, it is easily accessed by anyone. Meaning anyone can see, like or comment. One of the worst things that could happen when posting your art is getting hate. This barely happens to artists but it still does. The only way you can get rid of the hate, is simply deleting and blocking the person. Don't ever let anyone's negativity bring you down. There is no wrong or right in Art, there's just people expressing themselves. 

I've asked artists on Instagram about their experiences and how they started. 

Here are their answers: