In December 2019, I created my Instagram account, and it’s been a long journey since then.

Growing up, I was surrounded by incredibly passionate individuals. Both my twin brother and cousin sister had incredible talents in art and fashion design that had me squealing “Oh my!”. While I never considered myself an imaginative, intelligent, or creative person nor have I ever compared myself with anyone, now when I remember those days I feel a strange sense of no regrets, but there is some conflicting grief.

After joining social media, learning, and understanding it, my stage fright and social anxiety changed dramatically. My stomach quirks started in a grotesque way. I wasn’t aware of words coming out of my mouth, I couldn’t talk to 30 people in front of me, and my speech was slurred. Social media has ambiguously helped and inspired me. It gave me the confidence that I was also capable of accomplishing something. Further, social media has been the subject of conflicting perspectives, but I beg to disagree because when you look at individuals and what they truly contribute, you realize you may also have this.

I recall that even though my early poetry and articles were quite unprofessional, people were understanding and generous with their advice. I gradually developed self-assurance in my appearance, and my beliefs developed to the point that, as of today, my university classmates describe me as feminist and vocal, albeit there is still a long way to go. There is a personal, honest aspect to social media as well as a more sinister, unvarnished side.

Dark humor, a focus on money, and unwelcoming interactions between strangers are all present. My university-going male pals are initially taken aback when they discover the variety of unique requests I receive in my direct messages. I wouldn’t dare to utter aloud, there are certain messages for whom humiliation is an understatement.

Twitter plays a significant role in my life; I frequently vent my frustrations with instructors and other people there, knowing that they will see it, even though some individuals fail to understand the irony hidden in the posted phrase.

To acknowledge the “energy” people share, it has been exhilarating to watch Elon Musk tweet that Coca-Cola should add cocaine to properly live up to its name. My loved ones have become accustomed to laughing at my tweets because they are unhappy, but they are intrigued to see how I enjoy making it seem like a lighthearted joke and it is also therapeutic for me.

We are all so different from one another, yet when I tweet about something that is happening to me, I realize that everyone has the same copy-and-paste circumstances in their lives, but no one steps out to say it. Twitter, in my opinion, is a method to bring people together when used for the right reasons. Thankfully, my experience has been “vibeful” thus far, despite the fact that certain users of social media are active on the gory side of things.

“Engage, enlighten, encourage and especially be yourself, social media is a community effort, everyone is an asset.” These words by Susan Cooper show that even though you appear to be “cringe” on social media, in our parents’ eyes, all of us are a little bit “freaky” for being socially induced on these platforms.