If you haven’t yet noticed, we live in a media-revolved world. It has been able to work its way into our lives increasingly as we grow excessively technologically independent. Today, we unlock our phones with our fingerprints and open Twitter to see what is going on in the world around us. Then, we may open a celebrity gossip site or a lifestyle blog. Literally, everything revolves around the media.
There are many aspects of life the media fails to cover, however. Perhaps, some of us learned, or have realized these inconsistencies because growing up, we didn’t have all forms of media shoved in our faces during every waking moment in the day.
I feel the need to start off with magazines. Don’t get me wrong, I love my magazines. Every time I’m waiting in line at the grocery store, I browse through a magazine, reading quick headlines, and stopping to read more in depth if something catches my eye.
The thing about magazines, especially fashion magazines, is that they are so conflicting in their messages. The first thing you see, and usually the bolded headline on the cover, is “How To Dress For Your Body Type.” Oh OK, didn’t realize I couldn’t just dress however I wanted.
Lesson 1: Don’t let magazines tell you how to dress. Dress for you and only you. If you feel like a rock star in something, wear it. End of story.
News outlets are also always shoving ideas into our brains. We turn on the TV and immediately the latest political disaster comes up. Every station stands for something different on the political scale, and you won’t know where they fall until someone lets you know.
I’m telling you this from experience; I grew up with an extremely Republican dad. This means that FOX News was always on in my house. I never thought much of it until I started to understand and enjoy politics. I then realized that everything I was hearing before was skewed one way, bashing one party, and glorifying the other.
Lesson 2: Find the truth for yourself, don’t let anyone else tell you what to believe. I grew up with a Republican dad; I’m a Democratic daughter.
Now, for social media, Generation Y’s most prized possession. You rarely meet anyone who doesn’t have Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and so on. It’s an understatement that social media is important and works in many different ways, from getting you a job to sharing daily 10 second pictures of your cat.
Some people get so caught up in posting statuses and pictures for other people that they forget to actually enjoy the moment they’re trying so hard to capture.
Lesson 3: Don’t let your social media presence define you. Enjoy life for what it is and not how many likes you can get.
The media is a vital and evolving presence and it will never die. It will continue evolving as it has done so from AIM to Snapchat. Don’t just change with the times; learn from them.
Featured image via MarieXMartin on Pixabay
