God her hair…it’s so long and she’s so skinny. Double Tap. Oh my God she has the cutest clothes on. Retweet.OoOoOh He’s hot! Swipe Right.I want to be nosy. Friend Request Sent. I look cute right now. Snapchat. Let’s take a picture! Will you take a picture for us? YES! We should go, we would get so many cute pictures! Come on, we’ll just go, get a few cute pics and leave.
Sound familiar? Every day we are overloaded with information, photos, updates and statuses. Don’t lie to yourself; it’s easy to waste hours lying in bed, constantly shuffling between different apps on your phone. Twitter. Instagram. Snapchat. YikYak. Facebook. Tinder. Scrolling. Scrolling. Scrolling. It’s almost like a drug.
Be honest: How good does it feel when you look extra skinny or tan in a picture? Or maybe your teeth look extra white? Isn’t it fun to upload photos with your best girlfriends out on the weekends, because it lets everyone know you’re social? And the scariest aspect of all…isn’t there some kind of strange high when your photo gets 100+ likes? Suddenly, because people chose to like your picture, you feel confident. You feel self-confirmation. And it feels like nothing can stop you, because you’re totes Insta famous, and even though you probably don’t really know half of those people, they liked your picture, which means they must like you.
The darker side of this social media phenomenon is what’s on the other end of the phone screen. The saddest parts of you are the things that you don’t take pictures of. The parts of you that the other social-savvy ‘likers’ and stalkers of your social media accounts can’t see. No one posts pictures of the late nights up in their room, feeling so alone that the world might as well be caving in. No one posts photos of themselves breaking down at an all-time-low of self hatrid. Why would you? People like smiling pictures, tailgate pictures, date function pictures. There’s just an unspoken rule that no one should post crying, sad, or depressing things. Do you ever feel worried that the girl everyone is making fun of on Yik Yak might be you? Do you feel insecure if your picture only gets 20 likes? Do you feel stupid if no one favorites your tweets? This is what social media does to us. It falsely inflates our egos, and then later develops an unnecessary anxiety like no other.
Not only is social media a wrecking ball to your self-confidence, but it’s also extremely destructive to your relationships.
When we spend time on Twitter, Instagram, and similar sites, we are constantly comparing ourselves to others. Suddenly this level playing ground of fun becomes a competition. Who can get the most likes? Who can look the best? Who can be the pretiest? Jealousy becomes a factor. Especially if you and your significant other are both plastered with social media accounts, “favorites,” “likes,” and “snapchat best friends” pave the road to a breakup faster than you realize, because you suddenly begin to compare yourself to the people that are receiving the attention from your significant other.
The bottom line is, you’re never going to see yourself as being as funny as those other people on Twitter. You’re never going to think you’re as stylish, or pretty as the other girls that you follow on Instagram. As long as you allow yourself to be obsessed with social media, you will never be satisfied because social media causes us to lose touch with who we are. You will always want better clothes, better hair, a whiter smile, and better pics of you and ‘bae’.
The number of likes on a picture does not equate to how pretty, popular or good of a person that you are.The number of followers you have does not equate to your self worth.The number of retweets that you get does not determine how funny, witty or cool you are.And social media should never be allowed to determine your mood, or confidence.
While you’re scrolling on your phone right now. Scrolling. Scrolling. Scrolling. You’re missing out on a good conversation with your roommate. Ask her how her day was!While you’re scrolling right now, comparing yourself and your relationship to other people you could be calling your parents to tell them how much you love them.While you’re scrolling, you could be enjoying the sounds of nature around you…as opposed to the sound of a snap shot from your camera.
Remember, social media can be harmful. People use these outlets to make fun of others, and put them down, all while hiding behind a screen.
No matter how much you filter pictures of yourself, tweet your sassy/witty thoughts, or snapchat your “just chillin” (with a full face of makeup) snapchat stories, you are still you. In real life, you are the unfiltered, raw version of yourself, and you have to learn to be okay with that. Your life is composed of millions of moments that should be cherished, instead of photo-ed, filtered, and tweeted away. Instead of playing on your phone next time you’re alone somewhere (because we all do that to not look awkward), get to know someone around you, make conversation with a stranger.
Take the challenge, and minimize your social media presence. Learn to live in the moment, without pictures to “prove that it was fun.” Stop worrying about the tweets your boyfriend has favorited, or what girls’ pictures he has liked. Stop checking and obsessing over his snapchat best friends. Don’t let social media destroy your relationship, find someone who loves you enough to put the phone down. Be proud of yourself without the help of electronic “friends” and love who you are without the photos and the ‘likes’.