Social media is a drug
For someone like me I see it as an important tool that may in fact allow me to strengthen my fan base and that of Los Amigos Invisibles of course, it is also a great means of self promotion and publicity but after a while, this close connection with random people and fans opens up a whole new universe of social interaction that can be both pleasant and hurtful.
Everything you put out there on a Tweet, Facebook status, Blog or even Instagram becomes public and thus it is subject to the public eye's opinion and scrutiny having consequences for anyone using social media, but for those who are within the public's eye because of they're chosen trade or profession the consequences become amplified and although some people can make you feel great by complementing your work and sharing wonderful things with you others can be downright mean without any reason whatsoever. Many celebrities have chosen to close their twitter accounts because of this, I've seen how sometimes people say very nasty things to friends of mine that are "famous" and although I believe I am quite cautious on what I post and I don't publicize my social media feeds much either, I too have been subject to a couple of hurtful comments from people I don't even know and when these things happen you are faced with the question on how to react to them.
The fact is that when someone flames me or makes a hurtful comment to me I do feel hurt, I'm not the kind of person that can just let these things go by, so, once the hurt is there, how should I react? Should I not pay attention? Should I comment back? If i do comment back, what should I say so I don't sound like an idiot or I can get my message across as best as possible? Probably there is no right answer to these questions either, but for now, I guess I only wish to use this space to vent things out.
Recently a couple of strangers have commented while following me on Instagram how disappointed they are by me being gay, one guy I chose to block and I erased his message, another girl I chose to reply her comment to see what is her reaction, but my question is, why are they following on the first place? and assuming they were not aware of my sexual orientation, why do they keep following me after they find out and why do they have to comment on it? I'm only commenting on the things that have been posted on my personal social media sites, the kind of stuff sometimes going through Los Amigos Invisibles' sites sometimes get to the point of just being funny and ridiculous, but since they are commenting on the band as a unit I can digest that kind of flaming more easily, needless to say, there are also thousands of endearing and encouraging comments from fans that can make us feel great and elated so this is the reason why I state that social media can be a drug, if you are addicted to it you can look for it to give you the ego boost you need and feel as if you are connecting with people who like you and think like you but it comes with side effects where people who have to vent their own personal issues and don't have the proper means to do it choose to hurt you and in fact they actually manage to do it sometimes.
