On average, people spend around one hundred and sixteen minutes on social media everyday. With that being said, this time  spent on social media should be nothing but enjoyable as our thumbs scroll for miles, seeking entertainment. Often times I come across posts on social media that are irrelevant, fabricated or just flat out annoying. These apps should act as an outlet for people to spread positivity and update old friends and family on their lives, but instead it has become a place of toxicity. Social media can be like a drug. It is addictive and can cause harm, but in the right doses it can be beneficial and it can even result in joyfulness. All of the diverse influencers and posts make it difficult to decide who to follow in order to make social media the best experience possible. Ranging from the people who try to be someone else, to the people who just complain, to the people who are perfectly realistic, there are many types of people social media and it is important to customize the people that you are following to be just right, so that your one hundred and sixteen minutes are not wasted.

Facetune Fanatics:

First and most common of all, there are the people who will make you do a double take, asking yourself, “who is this? Do I even know this person?”. This person has done so much editing to the point that they have become unrecognizable and it is not until you read the username that you can even determine who it is. These people tend to have an obsession over the amount of likes and followers they have and are obsessive over their “feed”. When you see a picture from one of these platforms, you will instantly realize that these people are on social media for all of the wrong reasons. As told by the name, these people are experts when it comes to Facetune. You bet they are using almost every feature; whitening their teeth and slimming their waists and smoothing their faces and applying their favorite filters. These people are unintentionally making many of their followers feel poorly about themselves. People who morph themselves into societal expectations of perfection only feed the issue of unrealistic appearances. This may be the most toxic person to follow because it may leave you feeling as though you aren’t good enough. This type of page is the bane of my existence and it makes me want to throw my phone across the room. This person will have one of the best pages aesthetically, but in reality, this is the worst type of page to follow.

Negative Nancy:

Next, is the person who seems to be in a constant state of  negativity. Almost as if these people wish to spread their bad vibes, they will never fail to post rants or sad stories or a selfie featuring a fresh tear rolling down the cheek. Almost as if these people wish to receive abundant attention from worried friends in their direct messages, they are consistently making posts about how terrible life is. Almost as if these people wish to be blinded by all of the bad in the world, they fail to catch a glimpse of joy. Negative Nancies tend to overlook the beauty of life, only seeing challenge as a brick wall that is unable to be conquered, rather than taking struggle as an opportunity. These people will lose support as those around them grow tired of always swiping up on stories to check in, just to receive an ungrateful response from someone who is unwilling to make better of their life. This will in turn cause an increase in sad posts as a negative Nancy realizes that their support system is fading off into the distance, but the truth is that these accounts are just too exhausting to continue following. Unless you plan to be dragged into a swamp of negativity, this is not the account to follow.

Tweet it or Beat it:

Man does this internet user really grind my gears. As I am scrolling through my Twitter feed, laughing and sending my friends all of the comical tweets, suddenly a graphic picture of a compound fracture appears with a caption similar to “retweet in 10 seconds or break your foot”. This is an immediate turn off that will cause me to look up to the left to determine the user who has caused this aggravating post to appear on my screen. I will instantly go to that profile and unfollow it as I do not believe in sharing tweets that claim to determine the fate of my ACL or even the life of my mom. Some people even have the audacity to bring God into the equation, implying that my faith is nonexistent unless I retweet the tweet. Those who scribe these tweets are thirsty for attention and care far too much about a number that appears beneath the tweet. Unfortunately, what these users do not realize is that they would gain more followers and have more retweets if they were to just tweet something relatable or whimsical.

Perfect Posters:

Finally, the account that blesses everyone’s timeline. This account will feature photos taken on vacations, at dinners, and at every outings with friends. This is the most realistic of all the pages and it has the perfect mix of selfies, dog pictures and funny posts with friends. Not every image is perfect and staged, but each image contains meaning that is personal to the poster. This account is real. By following this account, you will even be able to recognize the person in the grocery store or even at school because they will look no differently than what is portrayed online. When stalking a page like this, it will become clear that the person is using social media in the right way, promoting happiness and positivity, while still showing the challenges of everyday life. This is the person who gets the purpose of social media. This is the person I strive to be for my own followers. This is the person we all need to follow.

So who Should we follow?

The answer to this undying question, you should always follow the people who create a smile on your face as you see their timeline. Life is too valuable to spend your time looking at unrealistic or negative posts. Every moment counts and it is your choice how you will spend your one hundred and sixteen minutes on social media. Will you spend your time viewing posts that result in joy or will you waste your time being torn apart by societal scams?