Influence of Social Media on Friends

Have you heard of the expression, "YOLO"? I honestly cannot stand that expression, but there was a time when almost all of my friends used that term (some still do). It is taken from the lyrics of Drake's song, "The Motto," which reads/sung as, "you only live once, that's the motto." After this song was released, people started using "YOLO" every time they did things that were stupid or immature. This is just one of the examples of how my peers were influenced by the media.

The media is inevitable. It surrounds us on the daily, whether it be on billboards or on the television. We are all exposed to media in one way or another, and without knowing it, the messaged that is communicated to us from the media, is planted in our minds, and we somehow use that message in our life choices or lifestyle. My peers are mainly influenced by the social media. My girlfriends are especially influenced by Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. My guy friends are influenced by actors who are handsome and buff, by the songs they listen to, and the movies they watch. To be honest, I think that females are influenced by the media more than males, since girls and women are constantly on top of the media, always updating themselves with it, and trying to compare themselves to those they see on the billboards, magazines or television. Women are the ones being targeted most of the time.

For me, I think that media influences me in my life choices, fashion sense, body image, and sometimes sexuality. I'm not saying that I knowingly allow media to influence my life, but I do believe that it does influence my life in little ways, but it does not leave a big impact on who I am as a person. I think that it mostly influences me on the things that are trending the most. For example, there are and always will be images of women in the media, their body shape, and sensual beings. I look at those women, and I secretly want to be the models on the Victoria's Secret Fashion runway show, or the women who are advertised in magazines, or even the actors in movies and television shows. But recently, there are commercials of women being healthy and fit, and loving their body shape, no matter what it is, and that leaves a positive impact on how I view my body shape. I now strive to be healthy and fit, and stray away from trying to be skinny mini models.

Another thing that bothers me is how women are viewed in the movies and music videos. The videos of women in only their bikinis or lingerie and doing whatever a man commands them to do is a negative impact on the image of women. Men pick up on that, and think that they basically "own" and control women, which is not the case, and then the whole female population lashes out on the matter. I've heard my friends