The First Post

  

    When opening new accounts on any social media website, I usually repeat to myself that it doesn't matter if people read what I write, and people's hearts or comments on my post on the internet have no impact on my day-to-day life. I no longer wish to repeat these because, following the new year, I have been trying to become more honest with myself about my feelings and experiences, instead of lying about them and pretending to believe mantras repeated online.  So, I must say that to an extent it does matter if people read my posts because I am not sharing them on the internet with the aim to be private, there are other ways to do that. People's hearts or comments do not greatly impact my life outside the screen, but these likes and comments are evidence that my words reached others, wherever they are, and they pleased them. I do not want to collect likes and comments as though they were currency or legal tender, but like letters and hugs and those little nods of approval that never fail to encourage. 

    On the internet, the absence of likes and comments may sometimes resemble floating aimlessly in a dark abyss. You're searching for a connection, a community different from what real life can offer you where the people you talk to have few opposing opinions. You may create a homogenous society, differentiated only by icons and usernames because, on there, there are no geographical limitations, there are no physical differences. The internet can create a uselessly idealistic world for you and it typically starts with a like and a comment. I sound like someone who has just learned how to plug in their router, but it's all true. This is the most exciting part about exploring new parts of the internet: the discovery of people.

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