Being bored at home over break left me with lots of idle time… idle time that occasionally led to me rotting on my phone for hours. Endlessly scrolling through Instagram and TikTok, staring at a constant stream of gorgeous girls always having the best time of their life left me beginning the year feeling insecure and somewhat unfulfilled. Since starting the second semester and having almost no time to mindlessly scroll anymore, I have regained a consciousness of sorts—the one that I can always depend on to remind me that nothing happening on social media is ever completely real.
I have now remembered the fact that all of the girls I spent time wishing I looked like over break were completely done up—hair, makeup, outfit, the works; and they do not always look like this!!! Second of all, most TikToks nowadays have default filters on them. People can easily change their eye colors to more vibrant blues and greens, or make their skin look perfectly clear of all blemishes with the simple press of a button. Finally, everyone (including me) only posts the highlights of their months, weeks, or days on social media for the entire public to see. Nobody is living a perfect life, and everyone is just making note of the good things through their posts.
After coming to this conclusion (which I have to come to often) I have been much happier with myself and my life than I was prior. If you’ve been feeling this way recently, close out all of your apps and learn to appreciate the world around you. I know I need to constantly remind myself of the fact that social media is fake, so I thought someone out there might appreciate hearing it from a different person.