Written by Allen Atienza
Visuals by John Patrick Villa
Valentines has always had a certain social pressure to it, sure, we can surprise our families instead of romantic partners, but the Valentine’s Day craze is so apparent that the event has become a marketing opportunity for flower shops and even convenience stores such as 7-11. Social media is no different, especially since it’s mostly the new normal today.
In an article by Rebecca Graham, she stressed about how much is expected from couples, and how pathetic people think of themselves during the 14th of February. You’re either “blessed” or “lucky” to have a date, even luckier if you have a lover, or “unlucky” to be single. Some people don’t even hold back on their social media accounts, some couples become “tryhards”, trying to show that their relationship is booming, and some single people try to pretend it's something that they're okay with but ends up being bitter. This mix of romance and wit results in some really cute and funny tweets.
All is fun and games until it gets too real, and we’re forced to look at reality.
Social Media CAN be Avoided
Anxiety, depression, and unhealthy emotional investment in teenagers were observed during night time specific social media use. This is based on a study by Dr Heather Cleland Woods and Holly Scott. What this alternatively means is that social media, when done wrong, can hurt your emotional, mental, and physical health. This can only go worse, and we’ve already established that using the examples we saw earlier.
So what should Social Media become on Valentine’s Day? Should it be a bad omen? If we stop using social media, we close down the doors to what could be toxic events and interactions. After all, no one will blame you for choosing the easy way out.
People have done this before, watching movies or hanging out with friends in order to silence the noise of social media. You can go out with your family, eat outside, or even binge watch on Netflix. There is so much you can do without looking at your devices every 5 minutes.
Should we Avoid Social Media During Valentine’s?
Avoid social media if you think or feel like your social media feed is full of toxic hypocrites. One day of deactivating your account might do you some good.
On the other hand, social media has become even more integrated in our lives. Some think that avoiding our devices feels like “running away” or that social media can be some kind of “medium” or “tool” to make their Valentine’s even more special, but that’s really up to them. Only we know what’s best for us. Whether we spend it happily or evasively is fine, as long as we don’t ruin the day for others.
Appreciating the Holiday
“What they have in common are relationships. Social media is about building relationships. Valentine’s Day is about paying attention to relationships and strengthening relationship bonds. ” - Michael Cohn
I think people should be more appreciative of what they have. We are definitely pressured by the history of people having dates on Valentine’s, or the signs and promotions stores and web pages have, so much that we mostly focus on whether we have a partner or not, when life is full of love. Instead of tweeting, “I have a Valentine’s date” or “Sana Ol”, maybe we should start by saying “Thank you for being my friend/family/lover”. Be focused on giving. Be focused on being grateful and appreciative of your loved ones.
Once you pull off these simple mindsets, you can make your own personalized lifestyle tips during February 14th. You don’t even have to resort to avoiding social media. Who knows? You might “live” instead of “survive” this year’s upcoming Valentine’s Day.
References:
Cohn, M. (2016). The Influence of Social Media on Valentine’s Day. CompuKol Communications. https://www.compukol.com/the-influence-of-social-media-on-valentines-day/
Graham, R. (2016). The damaging pressure put on people by Valentine’s Day. Concrete. https://www.concrete-online.co.uk/the-damaging-pressure-put-on-people-by-valentines-day/
A. (2016). Social media pressures. AgendaNi. https://www.agendani.com/social-media-pressures/
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