I got my first social media account during the summer between sixth grade and seventh grade. It was Facebook, and I immediately became obsessed. I was constantly posting status updates and random pictures of myself and my friends all. the. TIME. It was seriously out of control.
Twitter allowed me to do all of the same stuff, except the 140 character limit made it more acceptable for me to post often. I didn’t have many followers, but I tweeted about literally every aspect of my life—where I was going, who I was with, what my latest thought was, what I ate last, when I went to the restroom—and it was way too much.
When I got Instagram, I became obsessed with posting pictures. My thirteen-year-old self seriously thought I was a professional photographer (LOL). I followed all my favorite celebrities and a bunch of photography accounts.
Although I had fun on social media, it slowly became destructive for me.
This is something we hear all the time, but social media really changes the way we view ourselves. This is very common among people in our generation. Through social media, we see people the way they want to be seen. We see this “perfect”, unrealistic version of other people and instantly compare ourselves to them.
As much as I wanted to stop comparing myself to others, I couldn’t. I became addicted to “bettering myself,” and making “improvements” to fit my aspirations—aspirations that were based on things I had seen on social media. Comparing myself to others this often caused my self-esteem to plummet. I’ve been overweight for years, and I don’t see myself as ugly because of that, but I feel so ugly when I see skinny celebrities getting trashed for putting on a few pounds, or when I see GORGEOUS plus-sized women being body shamed.
I have not only been obsessing over keeping up my online persona, but also over keeping up with the online personas of others. I’m constantly checking Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to see what people are doing and thinking, and that automatic comparison immediately starts in the back of my mind.
Why can’t I be as skinny as her? I wish I had the money to go on cool adventures like that—I am so jealous. Gosh, she is SO pretty, and I am SO not.
I focus more time on these superficial things instead of productive things, and I’ve had enough of it. Social media can be fun, but my addiction to it has sucked all of the fun out of it. I feel obligated to post, to keep Snapchat streaks, and to keep up my online persona. I’ve become so accustomed to sharing my life with everyone that it feels like an obligation rather than an option. Communicating and connecting with others (which is the purpose of social media) just feels like a chore.
In an effort to make my obsession less severe, I’m swearing off social media.
FOR. EV. ER.
Just kidding, it’ll just be for a week. If you find yourself identifying with me, I encourage you to do the same! I’ll be posting more about this on Murray State’s Her Campus page if you want to read about how this works out. Peace and blessings!