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- 1. 18 | Real Lives Sera McDaid “Daily I’m online pretty much constantly. Because I blog and try to reach out online, I’m connected a lot of the time. I’m not browsing all the time - I’m usually moderating comments, driving social media in some degree, or being a shoulder for someone who has contacted me through the blog. My most used sites are related to my blog like my own website (www. theagoraphobicfashionista.com). I then post that blog post on various social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Linkdin etc. Social networking is a huge part of my life!” “I love being able to stay connected. Dealing with any mental health issues can be an incredibly lonely existence. You close yourself off without even realising it. If I’m feeling low or frustrated, I know now that I can log on, write about it on the blog if I want to, or tweet someone. I can connect instantly with someone in the same boat. I can go on and chat about pretty dresses and shoes to distract myself. I no longer do that so much in real life as I’ve alienated a lot of old friends due to not being able to socialise.” “I have no idea where I’d be or what shape I’d be in had I not started blogging online. It’s not the main focus of my life, but it definitely comes in the Top 10! It gives me something positive to focus on when things aren’t good. Writing keeps my mind ticking and the creative juices flowing, and social media allows me friendships I would have no chance of building otherwise. “But after the suicide of a close online friend, it affected me so much that I could no longer understand why I was bothering with online at all. However, I couldn’t stay offline for long and after a few days I realised I missed it and my online friends. A few had been in contact through other methods but I did miss the comradeship you can find online at times. So I can’t see myself going offline anytime soon! “As long as you know how to stay safe online, know the dangers and safeguard yourself and your loved ones, don’t post personal information online and don’t ever miss out on family or time with loved ones, then there are only positives to take away.” A mber Stewart has a love/hate relationship with Facebook and has tried to kick the habit more than once over the past few years, but the temptation of the popular site always manages to draw her back in! She says: “I’ve always had Facebook since it first became popular when I was at school but in May last year I began to develop a bit of an unhealthy relationship with it. “I found myself spending hours looking through other girls’ photos and comparing myself to them, and it began to really affect my confidence. I felt like it was taking over my life to an extent, and seeing everyone uploading photos and statuses about what they were doing and where they were just made me feel like I was missing out and had a dull life in comparison. “I ended up deleting my Facebook in May with the intention of never going back on it again. I wanted my privacy back and not to have hundreds of Facebook ‘friends’ who I barely know seeing what I was doing or looking through my photos. At first, I loved being off Facebook – I was spending my time much more productively, instead of spending my time checking it! “It was after about three weeks that I started missing Facebook a bit. I missed the social interaction of it and felt that I was missing out a bit – not knowing what people were up to, who was going out with who. Literally everyone I know is on some sort of social network and that is how they connect with each other, so I definitely felt a bit out of the loop! It was when my work colleagues had a Facebook group to swap shifts, and this was the only way they were arranging this, that I had to give in and make a new Facebook account. . “I didn’t add, or accept, half as many friends as I did before to try to keep some of my privacy and only check it a few times a day now instead of spending hours on it like before. The temptation to get it back was just too much but I still don’t like what Facebook has become. People spend so much time online trying to convince people how happy they are, instead of actually spending time being happy. People upload photos of their meals, and document every move they make online just to get other’s approval and that still annoys me!” “Sometimes I wish Facebook was never invented!” AMBER STEWART, 23, GARVAGH 18 and 19.indd 1 27/04/2014 09:36