I thought I'd write this post as a sort of response to Bethan's post on social media, which you should definitely read. If you want to follow Bethan, her blog is here and her bookstagram is here (she's one of the loveliest humans in the world and I love her very much). I agreed with everything Bethan said in her post and wanted to discuss my own opinion.

Many people assume social media is all bad. Especially the older generation. Maybe I'm stereotyping a little but there's no denying that generally older people tend to be more averse towards social media than younger generations. Perhaps it's the fact that they didn't have social media when they were young. But it's not fair to assume that social media is all bad. Because it's not.

Now I'm not saying that social media is all good either. I'm lucky enough to never have experienced any bullying on the internet whatsoever but I'm pretty sure I might be in the minority there. I know that too many people have been bullied over the internet which is an absolutely disgusting thing for someone to have to deal with, and it's a disgusting thing for someone to do. But I don't think the problem is the internet. The problem is the people who do the bullying. The internet is an amazing invention that is tainted by the horrible people who think it's okay to torment others. It's people like that who need to be stopped, not the internet.

Social media has also produced a lot of happiness in the world. Not only does it give people a chance to chat to friends and family they already know well, it allows people to meet new friends. My bookstagram account is something I'm really proud of and I've talked to a lot of new and lovely people thanks to it. Bethan is one of my best friends and I met her through Instagram. She is a genuine best friend. She's not just my "internet best friend", she is honestly one of my closest friends who I talk to everyday and love very much. My friendship with Bethan is all thanks to social media and I'm so grateful for that.

I'm definitely not saying that social media is something we should all spend every waking moment on. When you're hanging out with a group of friends there's no doubt that actually talking to each other is extremely important. Like Bethan said, seeing a seven year old playing on an iPad instead of playing outside like you're supposed to when you're that age isn't right. But social media isn't nearly as bad as so many people assume it is, and a lot of the older generation need to let go of this entirely negative view a lot of them seem to have. The purpose of social media is to connect people, some just don't seem to realize that.

I'm not entirely sure where I was going with this, I just thought I'd share my views. This is a little different to what I usually post here so do tell me what you think!