Social media is widely used by billions of people every day to share information and data at an unprecedented rate and volume. Especially within college campuses, social media is a universal and extremely useful way to communicate and connect with others. Socializing is a fundamental part of college life, so many social media outlets are catered to college students. For example, Facebook was first invented for college student use only, and some platforms, such as Yik Yak, are specifically designed for interactions within universities. Since entering college, I’ve noticed the changing importance of some sites over others and the different ways I use social media now as a college student. Here’s what I’ve noticed:
Before college, I barely used Facebook, but now I find myself using this site more often than any other social media site. Facebook is definitely taken more seriously in college due to its vast popularity all around the world and among different age groups, making it easier to connect with home friends, school friends, and family members you no longer see on a daily basis. After every weekend, my newsfeed is usually flooded with pictures from nights out with friends, numerous articles regarding college life, and status updates from friends back home. Facebook is more widely used in college and is a great way to check up with old friends and share posts and pictures about your new life after high school.
Snapchat
I surprisingly use Snapchat much more than I did in high school. Especially on weekends, my Snapchat feed is usually flooded with videos of my friends screaming along to their favorite songs at a party or funny videos of their roommates. Since you live so close to all your friends and constantly hang out with them, there are more opportunities to snap silly moments and take embarrassing selfies to send to one another, even if you’re just down the hall from them.
I use Instagram just about the same amount as I did before college, but now with a different purpose. Instagram is the perfect outlet to showcase just how great and beautiful your school is or to share the funny and creative outfit you wore for a theme party last weekend. Since parting ways with my best friends back home, I now find myself more prone to posting throwback pictures to connect with my friends and remind them just how much I miss them.
Twitter was huge at my high school, and I often found myself getting easily distracted by it because my friends and I usually tweeted at each other several times a day. In high school, Twitter seemed to be the center of updates on people’s lives and the go-to place to post pictures and thoughts on anything relevant happening within my school. In college, the importance of Twitter has mysteriously vanished, and I rarely, if ever, tweet. Now whenever I log into twitter, I feel overwhelmed with the numerous tweets and videos of jokes I don’t understand, which has made me feel as though I’ve outgrown Twitter entirely.
*Cover image from protecttheirmemories.com