Connection lost or found? The opportunities and limitations of social media.

As someone who has lived and worked in the world of social media for the past 10 years, I often find myself thinking, what is this all for? Thinking back to the early days of social media, it was so clear. I used to rush through homework to dial onto AIM and chat with my middle school friends. Years later, I would go on MySpace and message with cousins I didn’t see often, exchanging stories about boys and school and everything that was happening in our seemingly drama-filled worlds. When college rolled around, I found my roommate through Facebook and when I studied abroad, it helped me keep in touch with everyone back home. When I was healing from a severe neck injury after an almost-fatal car crash, I connected with a stranger through Tumblr who was going through the same injury and we helped each other feel less alone. And then, when Instagram came onto the scene, I not only kept up with my current circle but expanded it. I was able to ask people I knew only through the app to meet in person for coffee or lunch and now, some of them are my closest friends who have been with me through big milestones – attending my wedding and even becoming neighbors. Lately, though, Instagram and social media in general feels more like a vehicle to sell and be sold, rather than a tool to form meaningful connections.