Thank you so much Gie Santana. I really appreciate you taking the time to read it and tell us your thoughts in the comments. I’m new here but I’m excited to make some new friends, read some interesting stories and poems, and do one of my favorite things; have conversations with strangers.<3 It's really easy to think that my ideas are too wild for other people to connect with. I wouldn't share my writing anywhere unless I had to for school or a friend I knew was going through something I felt I related to. It's a big step for me to share my writing online! The deadline also motivated me to make it awesome in just a few days, where as I have poems I've worked on for years that never feel finished or good enough. Very excited to share more in the future and feel a little more confident in sharing my work. Again, thank you so much for your words, it helps me a lot. I hope you're doing well^_^
I think a lot of those feelings of comparison and low self-esteem come from people just like us feeling so insecure about themselves that they try to perfect their skin, bodies, words, life ect. And it just got oversaturated in content to the point where it became “normal” to fake it online and in turn make others feel bad about themselves. I even find myself retyping messages to good friends, and sometimes I just need to treat it like as if we were in person instead. It helps me to think that if I was with someone in person, I couldn’t Ctrl alt delete sentences to word them more sophisticatedly. I couldn’t blur my skin or have time to think of the right thing to say. When you’re with someone irl, you just have fun and be in the moment. I’ve been trying to treat talking to my friends online like that, and it feels like a good way to stay present while still on my phone. I also think social media influencers need to be more real and less fake, and that would help all of us. If I were an influencer, which I have considered, I would show my skin unfiltered and show even the lows so that other people can see there is no perfect life. We all move at our own pace and have our own journeys. Not a single one of us is living the same exact life or even has the same exact mind! It’s a beautiful thing. <3 I'm kinda just ranting now but I hope some of what I said resonates or helps you. I'm just babbling as if we were two people meeting in person, trying to remember not everything has to be "perfect". (: These are ways in which I believe we can change the world and make the internet a brighter place. I hope you're having a wonderful month^_^
Agreed! I think people are just starting to take the impact of social media seriously, realizing that we all need a time to unplug and recharge. People often don’t want to be alone with their thoughts, but sometimes that’s what we need to learn about who we are, where we’re from, and where we want to go. But at the same time, makeup artists on Instagram, fashion on Pinterest, and people that I can only talk to through the internet (or by letter) are all great, inspiring things! We just got to keep ourselves in check and remember that too much of a good thing can still be too much and turn bad. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I’m so glad you enjoyed my poem. <3
I am so glad you liked it! I poured my heart and soul into this poem! I was really nervous about sharing it because you rarely hear about social media, and the internet in general, from this perspective. I’m so happy you were able to take something away from it and carry it with you. I will keep soaring as best I can, and thank you again. It means the world to me.<3
Never be nervous about sharing your craft. Social media has its amazing benefits like the creation and widespread of this Unsealed family, however it is never to be used to take away from the essence of one self and you captured that so well in your piece. 🙂
Thank you so much Gie Santana. I really appreciate you taking the time to read it and tell us your thoughts in the comments. I’m new here but I’m excited to make some new friends, read some interesting stories and poems, and do one of my favorite things; have conversations with strangers.<3 It's really easy to think that my ideas are too wild for…read more
Wasted my life away
online
all-day
“so I’ve got to stay awake”
I tell myself
make up for lost time
through the night
all I did was shop online
all I did was think about what I want
I should appreciate what I’ve got;
educate and edify
my Inner Childs
dreams & desires
but I knew about
the Vaporwave Aesthetic
and I couldn’t recall
the Artist
who sculpted
David
a popular motif in today’s age
10 year old me would be so ashamed…
Think I knew more at that age
than in my 20s.
All I did was waste away
(…Scrolling…)
“can’t scrapbook
this moment
it’d just be
a sad
memory…”
When did it come to this?
Do I have a phone
for a face?
And a smile
for a frown?
They said television & video games
would rot our brains
but they fueled my imagination
instead
I didn’t have to please anyone
I could just
Exist
in my world
but these days
you can lose
_ your = (soul)
in…
a…
scroll…
and Virtual Reality
is as real as the ones & zeros
making up my brain waves
why do we let these screens
_control us?
as if we’re allowing
_a microchip
in our minds_?
… nothing is
Real…
yet nothing is…
systematically
Fake…
It’s like we let Pangea
become a circuit board
of little white lies
we call
“life”
Likes,
Views,
Comments,
“Subscribe!”
I miss when
going online
wasn’t about getting a reaction
it was just for
fun!
Share your imagination
to make them
laugh & think
and that was never seen as
a waste of our energy…
I’m so tired of this generation
being self-obsessed
with technology-
if we don’t step outside
our house
our selves
we devise
such little dreams
we have little imagination
without the blades of grass
to cut our feet
because
everyone is nostalgic
for a time
that doesn’t exist
still, they take
zero…
steps…
to make it
a reality
ashamed to say
I’ve lived
the way I wish others
wouldn’t…
They don’t understand
how social media
can be
physically isolating;
mentally, we go mad
without a hand in our hands
miles across wires like
telephone poles & seas
world’s away
on the same page
same tab
same window
opened
but I can’t step outside
my door _closed_
glued to the screen
always looking down
never up
where the sun can blind me
so bright!
I start seeing for the first time
Start believing
“I’m
Alive!”
Instead
I feel alone
psychologically
without
someone’s eyes
to look into;
Mind, Heart, and Soul
the gates
to gaze
stay
closed…
Face the phone.
Lose control.
Lose emotion.
Sense of self.
“I’m so inspired!” I say
not a smile
on my face
_stay glued to the screen
until you
don’t
feel
A
thing
numb from comparisons
train yourself
like a sleeper agent
and try to hide
…can’t feel a thing
desensitized
from imperfections immortalized
like a magnifying glass
so they erase them
blur
change
copy
cut + paste
until they cease to exist;
until everyone is perfect.
And so I watch
glued to the screen
force myself to laugh
at what I see on TV
wonder how to have fun again
when YouTube can’t teach me
wonder how to talk again
when Google raised me
{I_don’t_know_how_to_feel}
So I go on online
a sanctuary with
bars …
Still loading…
So I don’t have a thought…
*click refresh*
I don’t have a memory
to remember
anything
symptomatically
real
I wonder if I never left
The Internet
if it would be
(…Utopian…)
{teach_me_things_I_don’t_know}
_help_me = “tell me how to feel”
{tell_me_who_to_be}
Teach me
things I couldn’t learn
from The Birds
from The Trees
and other Tangible
Souls & Things
I would be
(Offline.)
instead of
A l i v e.
I wonder if I’m
{_secretly_programmed_to_be_an_AI}
since I don’t know
the last time
I examined the shape
of someone’s hands
how they fit perfectly in mine
or the look in their smile eyes
when they see my face again
for the first time.
Oxytocin
Serotonin
Hugs are a natural
Antidepressant;
In 20 seconds or less
you’ll feel the weight lifted
like you’re on a merry-go-round
playground equipment
like you’re a kid again
but
you
can’t
feel
someone’s arms around you
as you type:
“I miss you.”
sending Ghost Hug Gifs
in place of the real thing
I miss your eyes
that I never looked into
and I hope you miss mine…
though you probably can’t recall
the color that resides
an intimate
interpersonal experience
so rare
it’s surreal
no middle schooler
or high schooler
could keep a straight face
a trust exercise
but they felt
awkward and out of place
a state of normalcy
misplaced from today’s society
lost in the translations
of trying to translate the world
around us
to make sense
to make it easier
until we become
idle & depressed…
How did it come to this?
even the adults can’t talk
to each other
for long enough
to see
every fleck
of color
in a stare
like a staring contest with
a Firework or Flare
like constellations found
in conversations had
like gazing into the Soul
of the Universe.
I wish I could pretend
it’s the turn of the century
again.
Maybe I should
~ sign off ~
before I become
just another
punctuation in a piece
of code…
0100010101010010010100100100111101010010
0100010101010010010100100100111101010010
0100010101010010010100100100111101010010
0100010101010010010100100100111101010010
E R R O R
Wow! A powerful yet very candid piece! “They don’t understand
how social media can be physically isolating;” Very very true. Often times we get so lost in the hooplah of social media that we forget to live we forget to create our own tangible memories. Thank you for this keep soaring!
I am so glad you liked it! I poured my heart and soul into this poem! I was really nervous about sharing it because you rarely hear about social media, and the internet in general, from this perspective. I’m so happy you were able to take something away from it and carry it with you. I will keep soaring as best I can, and thank you again. It means…read more
Never be nervous about sharing your craft. Social media has its amazing benefits like the creation and widespread of this Unsealed family, however it is never to be used to take away from the essence of one self and you captured that so well in your piece. 🙂
Thank you so much Gie Santana. I really appreciate you taking the time to read it and tell us your thoughts in the comments. I’m new here but I’m excited to make some new friends, read some interesting stories and poems, and do one of my favorite things; have conversations with strangers.<3 It's really easy to think that my ideas are too wild for…read more
Social media was created so innocently but turned dark so fast. It’s a trap. A trap of wanting to be someone else. Feeling bad for who we are since not all of us are picture perfect. Us feeling unaccomplished and an unjust feeling of failure. Thank you for sharing.
I agree. Social media can make you feel so much worse or if you are not doing enough in your life. I often take social media breaks they are refreshing for Me and a good way to stay grounded.
Agreed! I think people are just starting to take the impact of social media seriously, realizing that we all need a time to unplug and recharge. People often don’t want to be alone with their thoughts, but sometimes that’s what we need to learn about who we are, where we’re from, and where we want to go. But at the same time, makeup artists on…read more
I think a lot of those feelings of comparison and low self-esteem come from people just like us feeling so insecure about themselves that they try to perfect their skin, bodies, words, life ect. And it just got oversaturated in content to the point where it became “normal” to fake it online and in turn make others feel bad about themselves. I even…read more
This is INCREDIBLE. It is so creative and so real. I think you are so right in terms of how screen time impacts our brains, and how isolating it can make people feel. And I think you did an amazing job of painting the picture of how your generation, which was “raised by Google” is specifically impacted. I really love this. So unique and creative.…read more