The duality of being known online

Running a social media page can have its ups and downs, but how stressful is this career and what impact can it have on a person’s life?

These days, there are more career opportunities than ever before thanks to social media. Young people all over the world are becoming rich and famous so early on in their lives as a result of this. Whilst it might seem like their lives are great and perfect, behind the scenes it might not be as easy as you might think.

Putting yourself out there so publicly is a huge risk to take as anyone will be able to see you and interact with you. This obviously can lead to some horrible consequences such as bullying and harassment, which is something that nobody should have to deal with.

Due to being able to message anyone at any time, this makes it a lot simpler for people to target someone and constantly harass them. Although people can block anyone, those that choose to bully others can just make a new profile and continue the harassment under a new name. This ability also allows them to remain anonymous as they don’t have to put in any real information about themselves when making a profile. People can now say whatever they want to whoever they want without having to face any real consequences. However, that doesn’t mean that things are all bad.

Sites such as YouTube allow you to create your own unique videos and share them for the world to see. Other apps like Instagram allow you to post your best photography work and show off your passion to anyone else who is interested. This gives people a massive opportunity to express their creative freedom in whatever art form they choose. Many people are now able to find and explore hobbies easier and quicker than ever before. No longer do you need to buy some expensive camera and study for years to get a qualification in photography. Now you are able to use your phone and make your own unique style. This isn’t just a result of phone cameras improving, but also because of the seemingly infinite audiences that are on social media who can support your content and a number of ways, many of which are very profitable.

To get a better idea of how two-faced this career path truly is, I decided to speak to a local influencer who creates content for the public to see on a regular basis.

Charlie, A.K.A Mr_4_cheeze_whoppa on YouTube, is a young aspiring influencer who has found his passion in creating entertaining videos with his friends. He has been pursuing this career path for roughly 5 years now and has experienced a lot of the positivity and negativity that comes with this type of work. I asked him what it feels like behind the scenes to run a social media page and he told me “It’s fun but sometimes pressuring as I feel a need to entertain, but when it’s successful I feel a great sense of relief and pride.” From this response, it is pretty clear that he is very passionate about creating his videos and genuinely loves to make people laugh. However it also shows that this is a highly stressful career path that has a lot of ups and downs. To say that you feel “a great sense of relief” after a video is successful just shows how horrible these apps can make you feel when your work doesn’t gain much traction.

I went on to ask him if he has experienced any hate or negativity online, and he said “ yes, it happens frequently,” which is simply awful to hear, but unfortunately not surprising given how much hate gets spread all over social media. I then continued the discussion by asking him how this harassment has affected him and his life and he said “It ruined my motivation and put me off for ages.” This shows how anyone can be affected by enough hate and that the happy life that people portray online might not always be the case. Charlie is only a small creator and if he is losing motivation from the hate he receives, I can’t imagine what it must be like to have to view huge amounts of hate on a daily basis like larger creators do. The smallest of hate will unfortunately always stand out in the crowd of positivity and can seriously hurt someone, so make sure that you think about how your words might affect somebody before posting them.

Charlie further went on to tell me “it also makes you think more about what you post” when referring to that hate he receives. People always say that when you post something online it’s there forever, and this couldn’t be any more true. Once you have put something out there, anyone will be able to view it, make comments about it and save copies of it. Almost anything that you post has a chance of receiving hate as some people are just out there to try and ruin your day, but I still have to agree with Charlie about thinking what you are posting for the world to see, as sometimes we might forget how public social media truly is and how quickly information can spread. Next time you go to make a post, just take a second beforehand to make sure that you are comfortable with complete strangers viewing this information at any moment they choose.

Finally, I asked Charlie if he has any advice for others who might be looking to try and start a career path online. He said “Hate is something you should ignore mostly but sometimes seeing criticism as hate is something to avoid to improve yourself. However, if it’s bad just try to move on, ignore it and not let it ruin your mood.” Sometimes online it can be hard to distinguish between hate and criticism, but it is definitely important to try and learn the difference as criticism is needed to improve in life. But, it is still important to try and look past the real hate as it will just make you feel bad and could put you off of making more content.

Overall, the world of social media can be tricky. It will have its highs and lows, but it is important to always stay positive and not give the hate any of your attention. The great lives that we see all these influencers living aren’t as perfect as we might think because we are all human and we all can be affected by the hate we see online. So just make sure that if you are interested in becoming a known online presence, you are prepared for the negativity that is seemingly unavoidable.