Wassup, my name is Jey Reed. I am 22 years old. I have 57 million followers on Instagram and 32 million on Youtube. In 2021 technology is everywhere. And wherever technology is, the media is. There are many types of media, but the one that I am talking about is digital media. Digital media is huge. Whenever you look at a screen, the chances are you will see media. Media can be entertaining and can go wrong. Anyone can say anything in the media and you can never know if it’s right or wrong. There are a lot of rumors and lies that people believe, and sometimes these lies can ruin peoples’ lives. People have tried to ruin my life before. One time people said that I had been taking all the money they donate to my charity streams even though I wrote the check to the charity I was donating to on stream. 

     The way that the media can control people is more of the media controlling someone’s life and what’s happening around them. Media is full of trends, and everything happens fast and switches a lot. If you are a big part of the media like me, you have to keep up with all these trends, and a lot of the time you won’t be able to act like yourself. You have to act how the media and the people want you to act. Many media stars have broken down under pressure or of not being able to act how they want. Sometimes I just want to stop. I have to post every day, and somehow I have kept up for all these years. There will be days where I can’t think or I’m tired from a trip or  that I d the day before. And those are the days that make me want to give up. My personality on the media pretty much has to be this energetic, happy, and fun person but sometimes on the inside, I just wanna give up. I just wanna close my eyes and never open them again. I can never go outside without getting followed by paparazzi. I never relax, it’s like I’m falling down an infinite black hole, and I’ll never find the bottom. I feel I have no real friends. I can’t take a break it’s just work, work, work. People think being a star is easy, but it’s not. Maybe I live in a huge house, maybe I’m rich, but I would give all of that away to live a normal life. You might think that’s crazy, but it’s true. 

     The main reason that I’m still trying at this point is that I know that there are people who love me, and I don’t think I can let them down. When I was growing up, I didn’t have much. My dad left after I was born, so it was just me and my mom pretty much my whole life. She’s done so much for me and hasn’t let me down. She was probably always stressed because of her job and trying to care for me. There’s no reason I can’t care for her now. 

     I hate the world, but I love the world. I hate life, but I live life. That is what life is about. You will never fully know yourself, but you can get close, and the closer you are, the more you win at life. You can never truly win at life; it’s like Minecraft. You can beat the ender dragon, but there are so many more goals to do in life. 

     Do I know myself? That is what I think about every day. It’s like I have two parts of myself. The media side, and the side that’s the real me. I feel like only my family and super close friends know the real me. I can love myself the way I am. I can hate myself. Everyone should be trying to love themself the way they are. No matter what your flaws are, you should love yourself. That is what I am trying to do, but it’s not easy. Learning about yourself, and loving yourself for who you are are the ultimate goals in life.