The topic of social media is pretty interesting to me. We are overwhelmed in a world of created perfectionism, where we are all trying to reach an unattainable level, yet we don’t really realize the effort put into creating an “effortless” facade. Creating these facades and these alternate personas can become addicting. Although you may not go out of your way to create a completely parallel universe of an incredible life, you can easily fall into the trap too. Slowly, you can start actively partaking not in how your life is, but how your life is perceived.
Since when did a number come to define someone’s worth among society? Since when did having the minimum number of 1k followers matter so much? Since when do you delete a photo if you do not get enough “likes”? So many people are staring at numbers, and they stare back like a reflection in the mirror, taunting his or her self-worth.
What is happening when we scroll aimlessly though this vast convolution of other people’s lives? We praise such images, and we are obsessed with being what everyone else is, yet we are all just the same. None of us have it figured out. It just looks like we have it figured out, because there’s a filter for that.
I’m not asking you to fall into the trap because let’s be real – we all have at some point or another, but I am asking you to acknowledge these undesirable aspects of social media because they should be addressed.
What I am trying to get across is that everyone makes their lives look incredible via social media, but do you know what goes on behind closed doors? We don’t, so let’s respect that and try to keep our judgements to ourselves because truly not every person is the same and not everyone does things for the same reasons.
The thing about social media:
Sometimes it makes me happy.
It makes me happy when I get to share certain milestones or accomplishments with family or friends. I want to create memories, take pictures, and post them. When I look back, I want to reminisce and be reminded of what an amazing day I had.
Sometimes it makes me sad.
It makes me sad because of how I see people interact with one another via posts. We don’t see what goes on behind the scenes, into getting that photo or how much time it takes to edit it or how long it takes to come up with a caption. We just see the end result, which to the unaided eye can easily be perceived as a spontaneous moment in time rather than what it really is - an edited fabrication of life. We truly forget living in the moment of adventure when we spend most of our time capturing endless amount of photos.
Sometimes, it gives me hope.
It gives me hope because it shows me a glimpse of a better reality - full of babies being born, people being saved, and people expressing their undying love and affection to their friends and family.
Sometimes, it’s filled with love and makes me believe.
It makes me believe that important issues in our world are being addressed. It makes me believe in seeing weddings posts and videos and all the different stories they tell. It makes me believe in best friends who fell in love with each other. It makes me believe in the homeless man who climbed his way up the ladder of success. It makes me believe in the people who work hard to serve our country. It makes me believe in the men and women who empower people to become stronger physically, mentally, and emotionally through nonprofit organizations or charity work.
Sometimes, it reminds me to appreciate the important people and things in my life.
One inspirational video can push me to buy a book. One post about parents can prompt me to call my own. One message from a friend reminds me to stay in touch with others. One article can motivate me and make my day a little better.
So, when I see all my friends doing big things, taking on opportunities, starting their own businesses, traveling the world, creating their own non-profits, singing, dancing, writing, acting, or doing whatever it is that they want to do - something meaningful, it truly inspires me. It encourages me because I get to follow these friends, colleagues, family members, acquaintances, and even strangers and see them fulfilling their dreams in this extraordinary life. Just make sure that you start living your life for yourself and not for the acceptance of others because you have so much to offer this world, and you don’t need the acceptance from social media to prove that to you.
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