Are You Using Your Twitter for Good?
For Harmony Albarran, life during quarantine has been full of comedy, family, and getting real on social media. The San Diego native has enjoyed her past few years at Whittier College where she has gotten to experience independence and make new friends. However, when COVID-19 hit, she was forced to quickly pack up her dorm room and make the trek back to her crowded childhood home.
“It was a bitter moment, coming to terms with not being able to come back [to campus]”, Albarran told me over our scratchy zoom call. As the oldest of five siblings, she has found it difficult to adjust back to family life, but it has also given her more time to interact with her twitter and finsta(stands for fake Instagram, a finsta is a private Instagram account meant for being more real than a normal public account). Albarran’s face lit up on my screen as she told me about her love for twitter. With a slightly embarrassed laugh, she reminisced about an old notebook where she used to draft tweets like a comedian scribbling down jokes for their first stand up show.
However, Albarran’s views on social media began to shift as everyone’s feed shifted from pictures of freshly baked bread to cries for social justice. She began paying more attention to what she and those she followed were posting. “I learned a lot about people through social media” Albarran told me during a winded rant about how a lot of her Southern Californian friends seemed to only post about missing Disneyland and the beach. It made her question whether people were really doing their part when it came to the Black Lives Matter movement or if they were doing more than simply pressing the share button like the fight for equality was the latest tread.
Instead of posting small humorous tidbits, Albarran decided that she needed to use her platform to share information on issues that were important to her. COVID-19 has been a struggle for many people, and a survey from The Recovery Village shows how drug and alcohol abuse has increased as a result of the stresses of the virus. Albarran’s family has been no exception as she has seen her mom’s struggle with alcoholism resurge during the lockdown.
“It’s not easy”, Albarran’s sunny disposition dropped slightly as she continued on about how she is torn watching her mom because she wants to be angry and upset but also knows that it is not entirely her mom’s fault. “Addiction is tricky. All feelings are valid to feel, I’m hurt by this situation”
Albarran finsta has shifted from goofy captions to longer discussions about addiction and mental health. Sharing and learning more about addiction has help her not to harbor resentment towards her mom. As someone who has spent the pandemic coming to terms with and processing a family member's addiction, I really related to Albarran. Our talk was healing in a way, to see that so many others were grappling with the conflicting emotions of watching loved ones turn to their addictions as a coping mechanism in these tumultuous times. While social media started as a place for comedy for Albarran, I am glad it has turned into a space where she can share and process things happening in her life, and hopefully, through her posts, she can help others going through similar situations.
