We’ve all been a victim to it: choosing the perfect Insta-worthy pic, spending hours adjusting the right Afterlight filter, and posting the masterpiece to Instagram…just to delete it after a long and like-less two minutes. Why is the content we choose to share on our social media accounts so dominated by what others think of us? It seems as if our generation has subconsciously agreed to validate the popularity, attractiveness and overall like-ability of one another through the simple click of a button. The question is: why?
Our obsession with the “like” is more ingrained within us than we think. According to an article in New York Magazine, the experience we have while watching heart-shaped icons flash across our iPhone screens is comparable to that of smoking crack cocaine. We are so addicted to the feeling of fame gained from positive feedback on our social media that we fall into the perpetual cycle of posting a picture, and then another, just in hopes that it reaches even greater levels of approval. Social media is not only making us needier as we to crave this constant validation, but it is also making us scarily reliant on others to boost our own self-esteem.
It is completely valid that we strive to present an ideal version of ourselves to the world, hoping to gain the approval (and the subsequent likes) of our peers. However, this behavior further perpetuates the idea that others should gauge our own self-worth. When looking at my own Instagram or the Facebook profiles of my friends, I am aware that these displays are only small snippets of the bigger picture of our lives. We have fallen into a pressure-filled trend of displaying a social media façade, boasting the highlights of our everyday lives, rather than a realistic depiction of our typical day-to-day activities.
But what if the highlights we share don’t receive the positive attention we think they deserve? At its core, the idea behind the “like” is to let a friend know that you approve of, care about, or just plain enjoy what they posted on social media. However, does the (supposedly) kind act of liking a post here and there outweigh the larger problem at hand? While it’s hard to not smile when your crush throws you a like on your Facebook profile picture, we should remind ourselves that the simple click of a button should not dominate the way we feel about ourselves. Our relationships, health, and genuine happiness matter much more than the average like-to-minute ratio on our Instagrams.
The next time you post something on social media, do it for YOU – not for the approval of your peers, or for a record number of likes. And, don’t forget, there’s no harm in going out of your way to tell a friend you like her outfit, or that she looks damn good today in person, and not online.
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