“Would you really wear that outfit or read that book if you didn’t get to post about it somewhere?” I was scrolling through Instagram the other night and saw that question on a reel. I immediately felt called out. It made me think about what I do in my free time and if I post about it.
I realized that almost any time I go on a new adventure, try a new hobby, or even do things within my usual routine, I find myself taking pictures to post on social media for others to see.
But why?
I think in a way, it’s part of the college experience. I never felt like I was competing on social media with other girls in high school, but since arriving in Boston, having an aesthetic, somewhat performative Instagram account feels like a necessity. On weekends, I’ll try a new coffee shop or catch up on reading for my book club, and find myself looking for something to take a picture of with the sole purpose of posting it.
Thinking this way is pretty harmful. I mean, we get taken out of the moment and out of our experiences because, instead of enjoying them, we are searching for content to post. We’re living in a time where this discrepancy is normalized, which is essentially uprooting everything we know as a generation about living in the moment.
If there is anything we should take from future generations, it’s that we must live in the moment. Life is so incredibly short, and college memories will be fond experiences that we look back on. If we want to break the constant loop of comparison, it’s time to put the phone down, take a bite of new food, flip to another page, and put on an outfit without expecting someone else to approve.
Next time you do something you enjoy, consider the meaning behind why you do it. Is it for yourself and your quality of life, or is it for performance?
As much as I hate to agree with our parents, it really is that phone.
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