I talk a lot about social media and I've held back on writing recently because why am I continually circulating around the same topic when I could be talking about something else entirely? But social media is on my mind quite regularly because I personally find it to be one of the most critical things happening in our world right now. I thought about the amount of time that is spent engaging on social media on an average daily basis and when I looked it up, that number is around 2.5 hours each day. Of course, it ranges worldwide by age, location and demographic but roughly speaking, most people spend at least 2.5 hours on social media. Not just their phone. On social media apps. Data also shows that worldwide, people spend an average of 51 minutes per day exercising which has proven benefits to both physical and mental health and yet is utilized almost 3x less time than social media per day. Just these stats alone made me say, why am I not talking about it?
My personal engagement with social media dropped with the algorithm changes of being shown only what it assumes I want to see. I find that it is generally dead wrong. I don't actually want to see only what I like or what I personally gravitate towards. The Instagram algorithm thinks I only want to see other vintage sellers or thrifters. I do not. Not at all actually. I want to discover what I do not yet know. I want a window into the world of the artist who paints all day and lives in an eclectic country home. Not because I intend to consume their art; I want to see their lifestyle. To be inspired by their creativity and imagination. I want windows into worlds I don't currently occupy. I want to see possibilities- not be endlessly inundated with what I am already familiar with. In a funny sort of way, I resent being only shown one possibility and social media seems, to me, to run on a completely different economy than I do. It runs on an economy of attention and comparison. The message underneath so much of what we see is "Look at who, what and how" and subconsciously I believe that once we start consuming enough of it, our nervous systems start preparing for things it didn't previously know existed. Like shortages and scarcity. Competition and fear of exclusion. Meeting invisible standards or missing them completely. Suddenly other people stop being fellow travelers on the road of life and start looking like competitors in a race that is ultimately of our own making.
Social media has moved directly into my backyard in the sense of the thrifting/antiquing/reselling trend that is happening. I've never looked at other vintage sellers as competitors. Just yesterday I watched another shopper walk right past an antique vase and ginger jar that I couldn't believe were sitting there. My heart skipped a beat at the sight of them. Reality is constantly handing me evidence that there is always enough. Enough customers. Enough beautiful objects. Enough opportunities. Enough creativity. Enough room for everyone. Thrifting, antiquing and estate sales have taken on an old school Black Friday mentality thanks to social media. Posts of people lining up hours in advance to be the first into the estate sale. The Goodwill bin sagas, the haul presentations etc. It all comes off like good fun but what is it really doing underneath it all? Look closer. There are just as many posts of the drama that occurs when the underlying current is competition. It becomes about winning against other people. I find myself asking, what exactly are you winning?
There is a lot of talk especially in spirituality circles about how we create our own reality. At the same time, there is also an old saying that 'you are what you eat'. I think that what we consume shapes what we see and the energy we carry. I sometimes wonder if these searches for objects are not actually about the objects. They become secondary to a perception of victory. So while the social media narratives circle around, "there isn't enough". I have physically experienced watching someone walk right past things I was thrilled to find. Reality gently says, "See, there was never a race."
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