19 ways social media has ruined our lives 



Been on Facebook today? Of course you have. Surfed through Twitter last night for hours after you should have been asleep? Yup. Instagrammed your amazing work outfit today with the hashtags #ootd and #instadaily? Duh.

Now on Social Media Day, it’s time to recognise that – for all the benefits it has brought us (ie. instant access to friends around the world constant news ｕpdates about Kim Kardashian’s bum easy ways of complaining to the broadband provider without being on hold for 20 minutes), social media has also pretty much ruined our lives.

1. We have all become narcissistic egomaniacs…
The fact that you have spent the last hour carefully doing your hair, applying your makeup and picking an outfit just to take the perfect selfie really does say a lot about how we spend our free time.

2. … and boring narcissistic egomaniacs for that matter
Newsflash: no one cares about your lunch, your ride to work or that you’ve been to the gym recently.

3. Opinions are like ****holes
Everyone’s got one. Unfortunately, social media makes it that much easier for the racist, sexist or just plain inane ones to be heard.

4. Overshare
Just put it away. Your bikini pictures, your confessions, your blatant peacocking. What happened to keeping private things private?

5. It makes you paranoid…
So your friend from work isn’t following you back on Twitter and hasn’t accepted you on Facebook. You know you should put things into perspective, but it is genuinely upsetting.

6. …and needy…
Why have you only got ten likes on your latest Instagram post of your breakfast? Why don’t people realise how unique and special avocado on toast is? Does this mean no one likes you anymore?

7. … and cringeworthy
You supposedly hate people that write thirty hashtags for each Instagram post, but you end up doing it too. You need the extra likes. #sun #sunset #sunsets #sunrise

8. It makes us sloppy
OK, so you wrote ‘ducking’ for the sixth time today. Who even cares about spelling stuff correctly anymore?

9. You compare yourself to other people all the time
OMG, how did that total loser in the year below me get engaged before I even found a boyfriend? How did Stephanie get that amazing job and I’m still stuck behind the tills? How is everyone on holiday right now and I’m stuck in the grim weather crying into my sleeve?

10. You waste SO much time
‘Just logging onto Facebook for work, honestly.’ Five hours later: still wondering how that girl from uni lost so much weight so quickly, and why she thought it was OK to name her latest album ‘Kavos 2015: Banter, booze and Budweiser’.

11. You can’t move on from anything
Whether it’s your ex constantly uploading photos of him and his new girlfriend (note: you are definitely much prettier than her, obvs) or people always sharing nostalgic posts from their Timehop, you sometimes feel like social media keeps you rooted firmly in the past.

12. FOMO
Why haven’t you been invited to that night out? How have all your friends got tickets to Glastonbury apart from you? How is the whole world going to that wedding, and your only weekend plans involve pizza and cleaning your cupboard out?

13. No one listens to each other
You’re guilty of it too. You’d rather be scrolling down some irrelevant listicle about how social media has ruined our lives than actually pay attention to the person who’s taken time out of their evening to go out for dinner with you, and who’d really like to tell you about their work problems without you muttering ‘uh huh’ while staring at your phone.

14. You haven’t read a book in ages
How could you muster up the effort required to sit down in a quiet room and concentrate, when alternatively you could just watch endless clips of people doing silly things on LADBible’s Facebook page?

15. Nothing is private anymore
If you make one mistake in your life, and you were stupid enough to make the mistake publicly, have no fear – you will be hauled in front of a social media tribunal who will make sure to hang you out to dry for your idiocy, ruining all future job and relationship prospects.

16. You know way more than you should about irrelevant things
Would you really know about every insipid thing Katie Hopkins has ever said if people weren’t constantly sharing her posts ‘in outrage’?

17. Everyone is suddenly an expert on all things political
Whether its the election, a war in a foreign ｃountry or a sex scandal involving a politician thousands of miles away, social media enables you to look like an expert on the subject, just by posting the link and writing ‘Well said’ or ‘Ridiculous’ underneath. You didn’t write it, so you can’t take the credit for being smart, OK?

18. Summers are the worst
Hot dog legs, pictures of your cocktails and statuses about how you can’t wait for Cancun with ‘bae’ can seriously just do one. This season is when the egotism becomes almost unbearably rampant.

19. It makes us bitchier
‘Ooh, hated her wedding dress, didn’t you?’ No. Just no. But somehow, viewing people’s special day behind a screen makes you feel entitled to criticise anything and everything without feeling the tiniest morsel of guilt.

There’s no denying that social media makes gossips of us at best and narcissists of us at worst. It makes us doubt ourselves, feel jealousy we’ve never felt and experience inexplicable anger at people’s holiday photos.
But it does have some (slight) benefits on the odd occasion – so to enjoy its good sides  without it totally ruining your life, try to switch off those darn Instagram notifications, turn off your phone next time you’re out for dinner and just enjoy the novelty of old-fashioned conversation IRL.

*OOTD ~ outfit of the day
 FOMO ~ fear of missing out
 IRL ~ in real life

Article Source: http://metro.co.uk/2015/06/30/19-ways-social-media-has-ruined-our-lives-5267360/
Image Source: https://metrouk2.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/ad_172519539.jpg?w=748&h=498&crop=1

VOCABULARY WORDS:
1. Narcissistic (adj.) ~ having an excessive or erotic interest in oneself and one's physical appearance
2. Inane (adj.) ~ silly stupid
3. Blatant (adj.) ~ (of bad behavior) done openly and unashamedly
4. Peacock (v.) ~ display oneself ostentatiously strut like a peacock
5. Cringeworthy (adj./ informal) ~ causing feelings of embarrassment or awkwardness
6. Nostalgic (adj.) ~ feeling happy and also slightly sad when you think about things that happened in the past
7. Insipid (adj.) ~ lacking vigor or interest
8. Rampant (adj.) ~ (especially of something unwelcome or unpleasant) flourishing or spreading unchecked
9. Morsel (adj.) ~ a small piece or amount
10. Novelty (n.) ~ the quality of being new, original, or unusual

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. What kind of changes have occured to socializing due to the advent of social media?
2. Do you agree that social media encourages negative emotions such as jealousy? Explain your opinion.
3. Do you think discussing poltics on social media platforms is acceptable? Explain your opinion.
4. How do you feel about other people tagging you on pictures and posts? Discuss your answer.