Online Footprint

It's hard to believe that social media wasn't a big part of our lives decades ago, but now it seems to be the only thing we depend on. Whether that'd be for gaining information, communicating with friends, or even for job opportunities. Even though I personally don't enjoy using social media as much as I used to, I feel as though I have to use it if I want even a chance at being successful. As unfortunate as that sounds, it's becoming a harsh reality. Truth of the matter is, I am a much happier person when i'm not consuming social media.

If I do say so myself, my online footprint is fairly large based on my involvement. I understand how ironic that sounds based on my previous statement, but it's a fact. Funnily enough, however, the only website I have of myself is the one I had made for my first year seminar course during my freshman year. It is still public for everyone to see, although.

Apart from that, I have my fair share of using lots of social media sites. Those which include: Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, LinkedIn, SoundCloud, and YouTube. My first social media I got to use was Twitter back when I was about 14 years old. For whatever reason, I wasn't allowed to have any others until I was 16 even though I consider Twitter to be the worst of the worst. Either way, I definitely had some of the most embarrassing tweets, but thank god it wasn't under my real name. As of today, I hardly ever use social media. My only purpose of using them now is to promote my music career. In addition, every once in a while i'll tease a new song, post flyers on upcoming events, and so on. With that being said, I don't use it for anything else. I guess that makes me a rare individual. 

Most of my social medias I've used in the past are now private. Which I find to be a positive thing. Especially cause I like to keep those between me and my family and friends. This also means that even if some stranger tried to gain any information off me indirectly, the only thing they could really find is that I aspire to be a musician. As well as a picture of my face, of course. Unless they tried to really stalk me. Unfortunately there are weirdos like that. 

When it comes to private information, I've definitely voluntarily given out my e-mail, but only for business purposes. Especially when it comes to my music career if any promoters or organizers are trying to reach out to me. Therefore, I always have my email listed on all of my social media platforms. Which are all public pages if I may add. As i've previously mentioned, it seems crazy to think that this is really one of the only ways I can hope at becoming successful, but if it helps it helps.

In conclusion, I simply don't think social media is what it once was. I think it used to be a fun way to catch up with our friends that we haven't seen in a while, and it can also be used to write a public diary of our lives. However, it seems to be abused to the point where people are losing touch with real life connections. This can be tied into The Atlantic article which questions whether social media makes people feel lonely or isolated. My response would be that indeed it does because it's becoming more apparent that people are forgetting how to be social in the real world. I can easily say I'm guilty of this too. Although, I can't be too negative. As there are certainly lots of positives about social media to be grateful for. Without social media, I would not have met some of the most amazing people I have in my life even if we live far apart from each other. As well as the fact that I get to laugh at a bunch of memes that brighten up my day even more. Overall, it's fair to say that social media has taken over our lives. Time will only tell how long it'll last before something else takes over.

My social medias:
https://www.instagram.com/gammetamusic/
https://twitter.com/GammetaMusic
https://www.facebook.com/GammetaProductions/
https://soundcloud.com/gammetamusic