2020 vision: A social media decision

Aaron Young
Staff Writer

They will know your name. Not mine, the person nearest to you, or Luke Skywalker’s. 

I’m talking about YOU, the reader.

2020 is a new year, a new decade and a chance to find or redefine yourself. This decade is a chance to hit the reset button. Discover what you love to do, your hobbies and you continue to grow closer with your current friends while making new ones as well. 

In the bigger picture there are many problems people face today, and heading into the new year solutions can be made. Not on a local, state, or national level, but worldwide. Everyone is playing the game which is called being the most popular person. However, popularity is driven by ego and the being superficial. 

In our society, we fear that if we show people are authentic selves, people might be caught off guard. Why is our name so important? It’s the first thing we say when introducing ourselves to people.

One of the biggest affiliations our names are connected to is social media. Whether it be a smaller platform like Tumblr or the most used which is Facebook, people want their name to be known. Social media has almost beaten texting when it comes to communicating with people.

One question for all: Is a social media profile worth having? Wherever I go, people are instigating fights on Twitter, bashing comments on YouTube videos or sharing propaganda on Facebook. Keep in mind this. Social media is nothing more than our imagination, thoughts, and ideas being brought into creation. Without our posts, it wouldn’t exist.

It’s all display for everyone to see but most importantly, it’s superficial and for some it feeds the ego. Remember, whenever we post something, it’s there forever and our name part of that post, comment, or photo forever.

We can get all the hearts, likes, retweets, and snaps streaks in the world. Snap streaks are a gem for many in my generation. However, snap streaks last months to decades, friendships last lifetimes. All of the following listed are perks of each social media platform.

I look at posts and see how many likes people get how many people they know, or who has the biggest comment on YouTube. I want to ask you as an individual, is what you put online how you want to be known as? That’s only for you to decide. 

Sometimes I see couples on social media taking funny or sentimental pictures. However, how much do you want your name and life to be known to be the public? As we transition into another year, my challenge for everyone is to go through their social media and clean house. Just rid yourself of people who are negative, personally attacked you, or whomever you wish. I did it. Take it a step further and maybe uninstall, deactivate or even delete your social media accounts. I did all the above, because I want a fresh start.

Do you want your name to be said by people who care about you, or by those who bring you down? When you grow up, do you want to look back and have people remember you for who you truly are, or whom you portrayed yourself to be on social media? 

“Heroes get remembered but legends never die.” Babe Ruth said it best. Do you want to be a hero like your local neighborhood Spiderman, or do you want to be a legend, like Mariah Carey, Michael Jordan, or Stephen King?

With 2020 here do you want perfect vision and a fresh start, or the same the one you had in hindsight? You choose your fate, no one else. It’s time to make a change and at the end of this year, I hope you all make a mark on this world. Who knows, maybe one day your name will be among written in textbooks and remembered for years to come.