I was doing archival research for my history project a few weeks ago (I was going through my grandparent’s photo albums) when I came across a newspaper page from the Sunday Sun, published February 14th, 1988. I was wondering why my grandmother kept this specific newspaper:

Then I saw it. My grandfather (Bart) made arrangements to write a valentine’s day message to my grandmother (Angela) in the paper!

I was so amazed by seeing his message that I almost didn’t realize that this is a prime example of a social media post before it even existed.

Social Media Back Then: A Space For Creativity

Seeing my grandfather’s message to my grandmother in the newspaper reminded me of when I first joined social media. Reflecting back, it definitely was a different time to what social media is now. Social media was simpler. The social media platforms didn’t contain all these intricate marketing tactics or all these options. Instagram, for example, was just for posting photos with just a caption option. Snapchat was also just for sending 10-second pictures/videos and having them disappear after. Instagram didn’t have the messaging feature, the option to make your account a business, reels, shopping, etc. Similarly, Snapchat also didn’t have a messaging feature or a discovery section with ads and the news.

Social Media Now: A Place For Businesses

Nowadays, social media is a place for businesses. It went from being a creative and simple space to a space where you get ads, can shop, and get your daily news all in one virtual space. It truly became a one-stop shop for the prime consumer. While this is beneficial for businesses, it isn’t for users who wish to use social media creatively.

While there are many benefits of social media, such as human connection and instant communication, it also has a lot of disadvantages, like FOMO, isolation, a distorted sense of identity, and unrealistic expectations in terms of beauty.

Below is an interesting video I found regarding Martin Heidegger’s essay “The Question Concerning Technology” and how you can use it to analyze Social Media: