Help! VSCO took my big t-shirts and Instagram took my Sunday morning croissants and coffee.
Credit: Pinterest
I know it sounds crazy, but certain aspects of normal life existed before social media platforms claimed them as their own creations. They were things, as in, they happened organically and nobody felt the immediate need to show everyone what they had, what they did, and/or what their vibe was. We just did things when we wanted to do them and we bought things that didn’t go with our aesthetics and we were creative without caring if other people liked what we had created. We ate things because they tasted good and looked like they tasted good, not because they had charcoal in them, black like our souls. We bought clothes that made us feel good and feel like we looked good, not because we wanted to try to look like we weren’t trying.
I know that I sound like your grandma, and I’ll take that as the highest compliment.
As somebody on the older side of the Gen-Zs, I’m not ~trendy~, but I’m also not clueless. I know that a social media presence is a big part of any productive young life today, but I can’t help but feel like things that I do and have done are being exploited to some degree.
What I’m trying to say here is that normal life put online can become something only for online life. Maybe this is just me being angry that I can’t really get the hang of Instagram and Snapchat, but the truth is that I’m okay with that. My only worry is that every time I like something that most people like, it’ll become associated with a social media platform.
Let’s address the elephant in the room: the hilarious and confusing world of VSCO girls, characterized by HydroFlask thermoses, scrunchies, and oversized t-shirts. Although I am ashamed to admit it, I want a HydroFlask, but refuse to get one because of their popularity. I own a lot of metal straws and only use them in private. I’ve pretty much already established myself as ~too cool~ for popular things. But the truth is, things are popular for a reason! HydroFlasks are a great size and they work great! Scrunchies make any outfit look at least somewhat put together and cute! And big t-shirts (and I know I’m not making any groundbreaking realizations here) are really, really comfortable. VSCO itself was always a sort of pre-insta post-editing app. It’s great that such great things are popular, but I just wish they could be only popular in the real world instead of associated with an online presence.
Credit: chspineneedle
I have nothing against social media. It really is great, despite all of the negative press it gets. Sure, we don’t live quite as ~in the moment~ as when we had to sew our own clothes or something, but we are more connected than ever, period. Even as I am writing this, I am Instagram DMing a girl that I haven’t spoken to in person since middle school (we’re talking about how scary college is).
Where I find fault is when social media becomes a person’s life, and when it becomes the motivation behind actions. For example, we all know somebody that suggests a new brunch spot because they plate the food in a nice way. Look, everybody likes when things look nice, but excessively posting about it minimizes the realness of it.
If this whole thing reads like I am just complaining that I did everything that is popular before it was cool, that’s because that is exactly what I am doing.
Want to keep up with HCBU? Make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, check out our Pinterest board, and read our latest Tweets!