Time for some unsolicited advice! This past week in my Positive Psychology class, we had a discussion on the impact of social media on well-being. You'd be hard-pressed to find someone in the modern era who is completely disconnected from the world of online interactions - Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Linkedin, Tumblr, Pinterest...the list goes on. Especially for study abroad students, the use of social media is a key way of staying in contact with friends and family across the ocean, sharing photos and thoughts about your travels, and creating a network of friends from all over the world. During this discussion, I noticed that oftentimes, the topic of social media leads to intense criticism and skepticism of its role and impact in the modern world; those points are valid - social media has been shown in many studies to increase feelings of loneliness, jealousy, and feelings of failure. However, it's also important to consider the benefits social media can offer.In many places around the world, it is clear that the internet is a core element of how our world functions. It connects people on various platforms, enables easy access to a wealth of information, offers creative outlets, and offers various tools for navigating the world - linguistically, financially, and physically - which can all help students abroad to make the most out of their experiences. RIP Myspace...
Social media is a realm of the internet that has gained incredible popularity in recent years. We've evolved from emails and concise text messages to individual people, to being able to share photos and thoughts with large networks of people within seconds. Even more than that, it has evolved further to enable people to use their social media for marketing, creation of a personal brand, and the perceived creation of the perfect life. I think it is especially important in the modern era, because of the power and prominence of social media in the world around us, to be particularly aware of exactly how we are using these tools. In class, our conversation centered around the affirmation versus communication offered by various media platforms. Of course, we're all guilty of focusing, at times, far too much on capturing the perfect photo without fully being present in the moment, and experiencing it for what it is. It's fun and exciting to have visual mementos of your time abroad, and to be able to share these moments with friends, but far too easy to cross the line where the communication of these exciting times becomes a desperate desire for affirmation - that you're studying abroad the right way or visiting all the best places or having the most life-changing experience. But, of course, it doesn't have to be that way! Social media is fun. I enjoy it. I love capturing fun photos and editing them to fit my mood and sharing them with my friends and family to keep them updated on my adventures. What's not fun is reaching the point where you allow an online audience to dictate what you experience, where you choose to travel, and how you spend your time abroad. So here we go, some unsolicited advice for how to make sure your social media programs help you make the most of your time abroad:
It's fun to have a highlight reel of your experience abroad, but make sure you remember that is exactly what it is. One quote that I'm very fond of, by Steven Furtick, is especially relevant to this discussion: “The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.” Social Media and the internet are elements of today's world that you are unlikely to be able to escape for long - and that's not a bad thing, as long as you're able to step back and appreciate authentic and in-person experiences as well. So use social media to your advantage! Look up restaurants on Instagram to find photos of the delicious foods you may want to order. Ask Facebook friends for recommendations at various locations. Stay in contact with friends oversees through Snapchat and messaging apps! Just remember that your experience travelling through the world is not something that can be measured in likes on a post, and your growth as a human being cannot be captured in Instagram photos. Have fun, live in the moment, and capture the good stuff. Lydia
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Hi Everyone!I'm Lydia, a 21 year old college student studying abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark for the spring 2017 semester. I'm excited to spend the next few months adventuring around Europe, and it'll all be documented here! Feel free to look around. Archives
June 2017
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