I love the first page of Solitude, where it talks about a child calling someone fat in person versus behind a screen. Cyber bullying has become such a pandemic since kids have gotten access to computers and phones. I used to get bullied in school about my religion- people asking why I don’t have a red dot on my head- because I’m Indian. Later, this became bullying over the internet on social media-subtweets or indirect posts on Facebook.
On page 63, the author mentions a 14-year-old who feels accomplished based on her likes on Facebook. I would love to lie and tell you that I haven’t felt the same way. Posting a picture on Instagram you thought was cute but only gets 8 likes when you have 548 followers makes you rethink the post & possibly your self-esteem.
I find the paragraph about not fully feeling happy, sad or mad very interesting. I know that if I’m sad I’ll go on Twitter or Facebook and watch funny videos and Vines. If I’m mad I go vent about it on Twitter or make a “rant” post on Facebook. I don’t get a chance to sit there and feel the emotion fully and have a good cry or scream out loud about it.
Social media can be good for making someone feel included, the Facebook page “I GOT REJECTED FROM MY FIRST-CHOICE SCHOOL” that was mentioned by Melissa helped her cope with the fact that she had been rejected from her dream school but reminded her that she was not the only one and that there are plenty of people that had the same experience. Knowing that all of those people are coping and will still be going to a school they did get into and are successful. I am in a group for Crohn’s and Colitis. I’ve had the disease since I was 15 and it was very hard for me to process it. No one in my direct family has it so it was hard for them to tell me “Oh, I understand what you’re going through” because they didn’t. I was depressed, filled with anger and resent for months. Believing I was one of one billion, and realizing through this Facebook page that I’m not alone and there are people I can relate to that can tell me “Oh, I understand what you’re going through” or can actually give me helpful tips and tricks as to how to deal with this very complex disease made all the difference.
Facebook Live & Suicides 