I remember the first time I learned about Facebook in 9th grade, when our lunch break conversation shifted from boys to the new internet platform called Facebook. I was aware of Myspace, but never had the interest in creating an account. My interest piqued when my friends enthusiastically discussed their decorated walls on Facebook. Back in 2008, Facebook looked completely different than how it does now…it was simpler. A nostalgic post published by CNET comparing how Facebook looked back in the early days shows how this platform has evolved ever since. I wasn’t going to miss out on this fun!
Initially my thoughts about Facebook was that it allowed me to add friends and strangers miles across the ocean. It felt like I had access to an unknown world beyond the seas at the tip of my fingers. Curiosity raged inside me to explore further and further until one day I came across a traumatic image on my Facebook wall posted by a stranger I had randomly added. The post was filled with nudity, and I was 15, shellshocked, staring at the CRT monitor (I used to call it box monitor until I googled the proper name). I immediately called my friend, who explained that adding random strangers to Facebook was never a good idea. That was my first encounter with the dark side of social media.
As grim as the story may sound, social media has also opened new doors to opportunities for me. It allowed me to network with new people I would have otherwise never met and share common interests across the borders. ‘A Writer’s Fight Club’ was the first group I had formed on Facebook that initially encouraged students and peers to write poems, stories, or writings. Slowly the community grew and more people joined in. I was able to read and witness so much creativity with raw emotions expressing through their writings which left a profound mark on me. Reading them inspired me to write more often but also to be vulnerable with my own thoughts and voice. However, as the world got more busier with technology and saturated with newer platforms, the group had become dormant. Even then, the memories of that digital space we shared remain etched in my heart.
Until COVID-19 hit in 2020, I had never fully realized the significance of internet and social media platforms. I still wonder what would have happened if people, trapped within the safety net of their home, isolated behind four walls and fearful of breathing same air as another human; never had access to the internet. Only one word comes to my mind: insanity. Thanks to the internet, the world may have stopped but in the ethereal world of algorithms it never truly did. As an educator, I was able to continue educating my students via Zoom and Google classroom. For entertainment I used to stream live online games through discord. No theatre to watch movies? Netflix Teleparty allowed me to watch movies with my friends. Watching fashion tips and outfit ideas from TikTok. TikTok was another social platform that kept me hours and hours doom scrolling through content which somehow matched my interest (AI-alert). Till this date if I have to cook something fancier, I always search for the recipes on YouTube.
I am neither a professional trainer nor a certified nutritionist, but I was always curious about healthy lifestyle. Curiosity turned into action when one of my friends from Singapore helped me venture into my fitness journey by introducing me to HIIT workouts and Pilates. He shared workout videos and links through the Facebook Messenger platform. Among the many fitness influencers one of the biggest motivator was an online Pilates instructor Cassey Ho, who founded Blogilates. She posted her Pilates videos on YouTube for free. She oozed with positive energy and encouraged millions of followers including the young me. She made working out feel less like a chore and more like a celebration of self-love and strength. Till this day, I still continue doing Pilates at least once a week if not regularly.
Back in 2016, during the height of my fitness mania, I often shared photos of my healthy meals in group chats consisting of my close friends in hopes of motivating myself and others. I was given the idea of starting an Instagram page of my own ‘healthy meals’. It lasted as long as I could and still now I tell myself to resume the forgotten passion I had. Maybe one day I will…
No doubt, social media served as an opportunity to connect with friends and families. To share our lives from thousand miles apart seemed almost impossible before internet cables and WiFi routers took over households. Being a millennial I tasted life before and after internet. In my opinion, social media is for socializing yet we have become more unsocial in the real world. Our hand holds gadgets more often than holding pens to write, we are more comfortable typing responses than to talk face to face. Influencers shaping our lifestyles, sometimes positively, sometimes not, we are balancing life in between two boats of inspiration and imitation. Like a coin, internet shares both good and bad sides like Yin and Yang, except we are free to choose which side of the coin to face.