Social Media Scare.

As Halloween quickly approaches I wasn’t thinking too much about getting into the spooky spirit. As a UGA student my Halloween celebration mostly consists of a trip down to Jacksonville for the Georgia v Florida game. Due to several New York blizzards, I honestly hadn’t dressed up or celebrated Halloween in easily 5 years. So it’s safe to say this Holiday wasn’t top of mind, but this year I suddenly find myself taking part in many Halloween activities. The urge to dress up, carve pumpkins, and visit haunted houses has returned and I can’t help but question why.

As any Millennial does, I spend a fair amount of time on Social Media. I’ve definitely noticed a push, much larger this year than in the past, of Halloween centered posts across several platforms. On my Facebook I’ve seen several “Tasty” food videos with pumpkin flare, persuading me to roast pumpkin seeds. Snapchat has started to include scary Halloween filters and featured stories increasing the urge to get into the spirit. My Instagram explorer page is filled with videos of make-up artists creating scarred and bloody looks, inspiring me to purchase liquid latex to create the most extreme Joker look on my friend.  

Now here I am with full costumes planned for local Halloween events occurring around Athens. I spent 3 hours of my past weekend in line at Netherworld haunted house, and have pumpkin seeds pouring out the window of my apartment. Where did this urge come from, was it from years of deprivation or did snapchat make me do it?