Conversations with Karla: Everything is not as it seems 

Hello and welcome back to Conversations with Karla! Last week we looked into the conflicting ways Greek life is portrayed on social media. This week, you’ll meet Dylan Lawson, a fourth-semester sports management major who talked about social media’s depiction of athletes and the pros and cons of social media as a whole. 

First, I must apologize. In my last entry, I stated that this week’s Conversations with Karla article would focus on the male and female experiences on social media. However, upon revisiting my notes from this interview, I understood that the subject was not the focal point of my conversation with Lawson. I will still touch upon the topic in this entry, but it will not be as extensive.  

Now let’s meet our student! Lawson has worked as a student manager for the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team since May 2023. He says that his responsibilities include assisting the players during practices and workouts, maintaining the facilities and other tasks assigned by the staff. Since starting this position, Lawson has spent almost every day with the players and has developed friendships with them.  

Social media provides two different depictions of athletes: on one side, it glorifies their skills, while the other labels them as “dumb jocks.” When I asked Lawson about his perspective on these conflicting sides, he admitted to being surprised by how down-to-earth the UConn basketball players were when he started working with them. “I figured, they’re at such a big basketball school and they are the basketball players; I wouldn’t have been surprised if they felt that they were better than everybody else, but not one single player is like that,” he said.  

He went on to say that he feels the people who bash the players’ academics are not open-minded and don’t want to take the time to get to know them.  

Our conversation shifted to Lawson’s personal perspective on social media in general. Similar to what was discussed a couple of editions ago, he appreciates how one can build their own community through social media. He describes meeting people on social media as a “building block” for connections. Lawson finds this especially important as an introverted student at a big school.  

On the flip side, Lawson expressed disdain for how social media creates an easy channel for cyber-bullying. “I feel like for a lot of people, when they’re face-to-face with someone, they’re not going to be as confrontational…but it’s easier to do it when you’re behind a screen because you think ‘Oh, I’m never going to see this person,’” Lawson said.  

Lawson explained that the people he allows on his social media are those he enjoys being around and talking to. He talked about how, partly as a result of seeing these situations on social media, he tries to filter out people who are not very close to him or that he may have conflict with. He noted that this is a practice that he’s developed after being on social media for some time and that he was “lucky enough when [he] was a kid not to have a negative experience that stands out.” 

Not everyone is this fortunate, though. The odds are even more slim if you identify as a woman. Lawson described social media for men as “…a little bit more calming…a little more simple.” For women, though, I shared that social media is more of a place where we have to perform.  

“I feel like it’s an on-and-off type of thing,” Lawson said, “I’ll get on Instagram, I’ll scroll for a little bit, I’ll get off. Nothing sticks. I don’t start thinking too deeply about anything.” He said that (for the most part) this kind of mindset is similar to that of his friends. However, for women, the line between reality and fiction is blurred because women get the same kind of commentary on and off the screen.  

That’s all for this week’s Conversation with Karla! See you next week when we’ll meet a new student and discuss a new topic.