from the #keepsocialmediasocial community

by Nick Acosta

Sitting in my condo in downtown Washington, DC, I closed the third tab on my browser after another exhausting afternoon of doom scrolling and anxious panic. I exhaled, sat back in my chair, and took a sip of water. Then, a gentle reminder came into view. I read the sticker proudly planted on the side of my water bottle aloud to the living room, “Keep Social Media Social.”

The powerful call to action from my friend, Amanda McLernon of McLernon & Co., echoed in the room. I read it again, pausing after each word. “Keep. Social. Media. Social.” After a day of content consumption that seemed to be oriented around widespread stress, COVID fear, and shaking my head at the latest political post from that guy who lent me a pencil in math class one time during sophomore year of high school, I was faced with an important question, “What am I doing online?”

For me, McLernon’s challenge to “Keep Social Media Social” is a call for us to interrogate the ways in which we engage with digital spaces, and remember that these can, and should, be holistic social environments. It’s a call to bring the fullness of our social selves to the complex digital environment that is social media. Social media is just that, a social experience. Unprecedented forms of sharing, community building, connecting, and inspiring are sitting right at our fingertips. If their purpose is to help us take our social selves into the digital world, to what extent are our social attitudes and values actually reflected in the way that we use social media? Is the fullness of my social self actually being reflected online?

Now, I’m not suggesting that social media shouldn’t be a place where we share our politics, values, concerns, or our fears. Quite the opposite, in fact. In many ways, our values and political opinions are core parts of who and how we exist in the world, but they aren’t the entirety of our social existence. I’m concerned that if you were to go through my Facebook newsfeed, scroll my Twitter, or get lost in my Instagram, it would seem that way. It would seem like the entirety of my social existence was a battleground of opinions and toxic attitudes crashing into each other.

Yes. Some days, it feels like that. But, I also really liked “The Queen’s Gambit.” My neighborhood mutual aid program does need volunteers this weekend. I’m not sure if I look good in this shirt. I think that DC public school teachers are underpaid. I made some killer macarons yesterday. I cried when I found out my brother was sick.

My social existence is more complex than a set of toxic anxieties. It is rich and diverse. It is colorful and random. It is all at once my hobbies, values, passions, politics… and my latest Netflix binge.

People seem to think that social media is some fabricated, best version of ourselves, where we curate our personas by only posting ourselves under the most perfect lighting. Looking at my water bottle, and the prompt from McLernon to “Keep Social

Nick Acosta is a communications and content marketing professional based in Washington, DC. When he’s not working, Nick can be found at the rock climbing gym, baking with too much chocolate, or working on his next novel.

Connect with Nick on Instagram @nickacosta11 and @henleyjalexandre

Media Social” I thought to myself, “It doesn’t have to be like that.”

If we bring the fullness of our social existence to the table, unashamed, authentic, and proud, we can do more with social media than we ever imagined. We can build communities, share values, heal divisions, support one another, and so much more.

This year, I want to be more intentional about my digital presence. I want to have an answer to the question, “What am I doing online?” I want to Keep Social Media Social. Do you?

#KeepSocialMediaSocial

Nick Acosta