Kelli Kroepel | Opinion Co-Editor

Within the twenty-four hour span in a day, how many times do you find yourself browsing on Facebook or Twitter? I used to spend almost whole days Facebook “creeping”, and now I use social media as a time-filler when I can’t concentrate in class or when I’m waiting for my food at a restaurant. As the years go on, I find myself becoming less interested in what people have to say on social media. My loss in interest is not due to the actual people I have on my Facebook or Twitter feed. It’s more about what they’re posting.

It’s hard for me to stay engrossed when a majority of my news feed is filled up with hashtags such as #MCM (Man Candy Monday), #TransformationTuesday, #WCW (Woman Crush Wednesday), and #TBT (Throwback Thursday). I mean, it was entertaining when it first started to become a trend in social media, but now I can’t handle the weekly photos of Dave Franco and Rihanna, as well as people adding photos of themselves when they were infants every Thursday. The occasional photograph from your high school homecoming dance is sentimental, but I think it’s time for some people to close the yearbook. This is all part of the reason why I’m starting to stay away from social media. Lately, getting on Facebook, is either like being forced down memory lane or it’s becoming a baby book for all of my Facebook friends to post photos of their children several times a day.

Twitter was like a breath of fresh air when I first created my account. I could get away from the lengthy, unnecessary statuses that plagued Facebook, as well as avoid family members and co-workers from reading my borderline inappropriate, and sarcastic thoughts. Twitter has now become a place for people to post relationship quotes and country lyrics, link their Instagram photos, and post ridiculous hashtags, such as #TeamFollowBack in order to gain as many followers as possible. Twitter is becoming infected with bogus accounts that spam fake links and bizarre hashtags.

Twitter can be fun though. I won’t deny that there are hashtag trends that I find rather comical, such as #TweetLikeAGirl or #TweetLikeAGuy. However, there are topics that are tweeted on Twitter, that many would take rather offensive. For example, some ignorant trending topics that have taken place in that past have been: #ThingsThatMakeBlackGirlsMad, #WhiteGirlProbz, #AaliyahsAirlinePlaylist (as many know, female rapper Aaliyah died in a plane crash back in 2001), #ItAintRape, #ReasonsToBeatYourGirlfriend, and #MyHomelessSignWouldSay. I try not to take many jokes to heart on things like Twitter or Facebook, but I have seen tweets that have taken jokes way too far.

I think that eventually, I will avoid all types of social media. People are ruining social media by constantly posting about their daily Instagram trends or by mocking serious social issues such as racism, rape culture, homelessness, and abusive relationships. I would much rather spend my time browsing articles on Buzzfeed or watching Netflix, than scroll down my newsfeed to read the obnoxious Facebook arguments, posts about how our screwed up government, or people’s sadistic jokes about the issues that are troubling our society.

Graphic by Grace Bodey