Social media has affected our lives in so many ways, so it is not unusual to understand that it has also helped the prom scene.
Prom season is upon us and finding the right dress is paramount to every junior and senior girl in high school. A dress, whether long or short, is requisite attire for the event and has to be unique.
Social media allows you to mainstream information as to what you are wearing. There is a big difference as to which prom dress to get and of course, who is wearing what.
With the introduction of Facebook, there is now an annual group that is formed for the senior prom, and in some cases the junior prom, where each female attendee can put her selection online to inform other classmates of her intended dress. Instagram and Snapchat are other social media outlets in use as information channels. Each high school girl can join, or is invited to join, and look at the beautiful array of prom dress selections taken by a student posted with a selfie.
The social commentary on the dress is limited to a thumbs up or a heart and I believe for most, that is where it ends.
It may sound like a good idea but it puts an enormous amount of pressure on girls to rush right out, find their dress and post a picture, panicking that someone may have already selected the dress before them.
The medium does allow for girls to change their mind and on occasion, there are duplicated selections and energetic discussions/highlights of who chose which dress first. Fights do happen, but they are usually resolved with amicable discussion. This exercise eliminates the dreaded duplication of dresses worn. Of course, if it does happen, the girls can always say “great minds think alike.”
Another way social media has changed the prom scene is by posting a prom gown for use by someone less fortunate. In this day and age where a cellphone is a must but prom dresses are not, opportunities abound. Such was the case in Maryland, where a young woman tweeted and offered to loan her dress to someone in need. She volunteered her dress, shoes and even make-up to someone in the area who was unable to purchase a prom dress. This act of philanthropy has sparked a new trend for teens, which subsequently proposed numerous offers of prom dresses in several states and included men offering up their threads as a loaner.
Indeed, with the random tweets of kindness, also came offers of professional makeup artists and photographers providing their services for the prom experience to be a once-in-a-lifetime celebration that you will never forget.
