the cool crowd // media awareness part 2

Speaking of the cool kids and all the super rad bloggers and entrepreneurs out there...
Let's talk a little about how we follow them. If you like someone or are inspired by them, it's likely that you'll want to be like them and this includes liking the things they like. Feeling pressure to buy things the cool kids have or read the blogs they read can lead to a lot of stress and anxiety. Your inner dialogue may ask you, 'Where will I get the time to read 400 blogs posts a day? Where will I get the money for that designer watch? How will I ever keep up?' or worse.. you'll spend the time or the money trying to keep up, inevitably making yourself feel inadequate. The truth is.. you don't have to! You can't possibly like everything everyone else likes. You have to discern for yourself what gets your time and money and what you think is cool. I love this tap essay about what what it is to like and what it is to love on the Internet. You really have to take a look at yourself and understand who you are as a media user and as a person. Being part of the 'in' crowd does not mean you conform. If you don't like polka dots, don't buy polka dot jeans and if you don't like a blog that has a million followers, don't read it. I guarantee you are not missing out. There will be another 'it' thing in approximately 4 seconds. So don't fret. Sometimes finding yourself means that you don't get to feel cool. And if you're a mixture of this crowd and that, then be that. Fitting in is not a real thing. The cool crowd is only who you deem it to be.