The Best Social Network Is A Table With The People I Love

I have thousands of friends on social networks. Some of them with names I can’t pronounce and I’ve never seen in person. However, they offer me a  Like  every time I post a picture of this life they don’t even know about.

Social relationships today are different from those of our parents. However, they are not worse for that. Let’s say that they contain another essence, another way of building bonds, sometimes as fleeting, variable and changing very easily, like the water we hold in our hands.

However, it is possible that many of us  “do not exist”  or do not  “go to”  so intensely the virtual space of social networks, but, in return, we  continue to be important to those who really matter to us. Those people who, of course, can be counted with the fingers of one hand. They give real meaning to our lives and don’t need to see our “status” on  social media  to know if we’re good or bad.

Social Media and the Power of “Like”

We are all very aware of the great benefits of social media these days: they  are an authentic weapon of power. Every news jumps in a few seconds to them to get an acceptance or a rejection. The reaction is immediate and the mechanism of “Like” or “sharing” are infallible things.

Something like this never ceases to amaze us, and why not say it, enriches us, especially in the following ways:

• We people connect on social networks where we share similar interests.
• We interact, learn, meet people who, at the same time, also share the same interests.
• Often we can even initiate certain changes in terms of personal growth thanks to these motivations that we often receive on our social networks.

It is not, then, about denying new technologies and avoiding social networks at all costs. It’s inevitable. Nowadays society is interconnected. It’s like a big brain full of connections and synapses where new technologies are extensions of ourselves.

• It’s about setting priorities.
• It’s about not “depending”, about not going  to the extreme of thinking that if we don’t publish something, we cease to exist in real life.  In fact, as is often said jokingly,  “a person can go to and from a place without having to publish it”.

• The power of “Like” should never be a need to receive positive reinforcement  on a daily basis. Nobody should have to post a photo to know whether or not it’s attractive.
• The acceptance of oneself should never depend on the amount of  “Likes” obtained in a day.

A table with the most beautiful people I know: the best social network

The vast majority of us clearly know who these pillars are in our lives. Those people who go beyond social networks  (although they are also part of them). We appreciate your closeness, the sound of your laughter and the warmth of your hugs.

We could say that the best social network is formed by no more than five people, the ones for whom we decide to put the phone aside and take on a pleasant conversation, until night falls. However, experts indicate that, currently,  the greatest risk of absolute dependence on social networks is, without a doubt, in the younger generations:

• There are many teenagers who are characterized by low self-esteem,  feel “disposable” in society itself, but dependent, in turn, on this positive reinforcement that social networks pretend to have, such as the classic “Like” or “sharing”.
• The lack of an authentic quality in your own social relationships  generates a basic need to accumulate followers  and friends in your social networks.
• These friendships are, in general, empty and very ephemeral. However, the feeling of loss doesn’t last long, because with each “eliminated friend”, more can be added.

• Adolescence should be a time where social relationships mark a before and an after. They should be emotional pillars that help teenagers to grow and mature.

However, nowadays, there  are many teenagers that generate a kind of “social anomaly”, where very few things are consolidated, and where they cannot build a true commitment with their fellow men.

It’s something that, as parents or educators, we should be able to reorient. Social networks are undoubtedly a weapon of power, but there are other properties that can be even more enriching.

Image credits: Maria Kalacheva