How Has Social Media Changed You? A Stay at Home Mom’s Perspective

This post is a response to a writing prompt from MamaKat's Pretty Much World Famous Writing Workshop:

How has social media changed you? Well, social media has not changed me at all, but what it has done is given me the opportunity to be more ME than I have ever been before.

I know who I am as a person, but the entirety and truth of who that person is may not always have been presented to the outside world. It's not because I was hiding my true self, but rather because it is easier - and always has been - for me to present my thoughts and feelings through writing. Social media provides me with the opportunity to connect with all different kinds of people - those who have known me forever, those who I knew long ago and have now reconnected with, complete strangers, loved ones, and brand new friends. And thanks to social media, I can now interact with them through the platform that makes me most comfortable and allows me to express myself easily and freely.

As a stay at home mama, social media provides me with something that stay at home moms in the past might have missed out on and craved: regular and consistent adult interaction and stimulation. I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that my baby and I haven't been able to leave the house (aside from playing in our snow filled yard) for the past five days. Our Civic can't even make it out of the iced up driveway, and the sidewalks have been covered with black ice. Have I lost my mind? Not even close. We've had a great week, and emotionally, I feel as if I've been socializing all week thanks to my blog, Facebook, Twitter (@ithoughtiknewma), and various online communities that I belong to. The days of stay at home motherhood going hand in hand with isolation are long gone.

In addition, now that I am officially a blogger, I am experiencing a new level of satisfaction from being a stay at home mama that goes far beyond the pure joy of getting to be with Jac all day every day. Blogging combines all of my strengths and passions: a focus on my incredible son; writing; sales and marketing as I network and try to grow my blog community; and education as I share insights with others and learn from the many wise souls inhabiting the world of online social media.

And if I really want to look at the impact of social media on me fully and truthfully, I would have to admit that I might not even be a blogger or a mom if it hadn't been for the support, wisdom, and resources afforded to me from a certain online community of women who I have been with since my husband and I first decided to try to conceive. That's back when we thought you get to have a baby just by deciding it's finally time and having fun in the bedroom. If only the journey was that easy for most of us these days. I am so thankful to the anonymous women who shared their experiences and love and support and information with me for no other reason than pure selflessness and empathy.

Here's a secret that the real media often seems to miss with all of their focus on social media platforms: The social media world is a place of great generosity. Strangers take the time to lift each other up and inspire each other. I wouldn't even be writing this post without the inspiration of MamaKat's writing prompt.

If social media has impacted your life greatly, I would love to hear about it in the comments section below!