Answer: NOTHING!
This past week the internet exploded. The interview on Red Table Talk with Jada Pinkett Smith and Jordyn Woods almost shut it down. Our salacious need to know the intimate, hurtful details of the indiscretions of a 21-year-old became breaking news…this is the state of our society, sadly.
I try my best to keep my blog free of politics and pop culture commentary, but this week was a wake-up call for all of us!
Two things collided this week, the words of Lady Gaga “Social Media is the Toilet of the Internet,” and the toilet catching up with Jordyn Woods.
You see the difference between Jordyn Woods and me is absolutely nothing! I made terrible mistakes as a 21-year-old, but one thing is different, and that is the internet and the wrath of social media!
Definition of Social Media -websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.
This very vague and obscure definition of the internet and social media has turned into the wrath, the triumph and the fall of millions of people.
Think back on what we were doing at 21 years old and would we want ANY of our actions blasted, posted, photographed to the WORLD. Think about every failing, every poor decision, every mistake, every embarrassing moment!
Have we been where we were not supposed to be? Have we kissed someone we were not supposed to kiss? Have we had too much to drink? Have we walked into a situation knowing in our gut its wrong?
Full transparency I can answer with a resounding YES to every one of those questions. Has my immature, insecure, frightened 21-year-old self-made the worst decisions of my life? Yes, I have! And if any of those moments had made it to the internet, I would have died over and over again. Knowing that my parents taught me better, knowing that I knew better, knowing that I knew what I was doing was wrong, but still moving towards it.
As the world condemns a young 21-year-old, whose real mistake was getting caught up in the eye of the hurricane that is social media and wanting to be something that she was not meant to be. We must reserve the judgment and think about how we consume social media. How we choose to be a part of the narrative that is both hurtful and fictitious.
Who would we be without Social Media? Do we have an identity? Do you have a purpose? Do we have relationships?
Lesson: Our indulgence makes us a participant. Be mindful on how you’re consuming.
‘Til Tuesday
-Annette Ortiz Mata
