Insta-Self

Social Media vs. Reality

We've all experienced those moments when we're scrolling through our news feed on Facebook and someone posted another excessively informative status about their pregnancy, illness, relationship, or about their life in general. We've all had those thoughts like "Why did he/she post that? Is that necessary?" Sometimes we laugh because the person has gotten themselves into a really unfortunate/awkward situation. Sometimes we cringe because the person has gone into wayyyy too much detail about their recent case of food poisoning. Sometimes we get jealous because the person posted a FLAWLESS picture on Instagram. Or sometimes we feel that our life is inadequate because the person has the perfect relationship picture with their boyfriend, best friends, or family. 

I don't know about you, but I've beaten myself up a few times because I compare my life to what others are doing. Sometimes I have to keep reminding myself that these "perfect" people I'm seeing on social media aren't perfect. No one is. Let's be honest here. What I post on my social media is only a sliver of what my real life actually is like and 90% of the time, I'm leaving out bits and pieces of the truth. Now, I'm not flat out lying in my posts but I'm not being completely honest either. Take the picture in the middle of the bottom row of my photo collage (seen above). This picture is of my family at my cousin's wedding. Sure, we look pretty happy/perfect. My sister posted this picture to Instagram with the caption "wedding with the family!" It got quite a few likes and a couple comments here and there, and it was rewarding to see everyone think that my family was "perfect". What you don't know is that shortly before this photo was taken, my mom and sister were bickering, I was complaining about the heat, Dad almost got stung by a bee, and Danny was making fun of Dad. Sound like a perfect family?

We forget that what we see on social media is only a tiny portion of someone's life, and we only see it after it's been edited, cropped, and applied with a filter. I think, is the persona I'm putting out there on social media, an actual representation of my life? Or is it the edited, cropped, and filter-applied representation? What happens when our real human lives, don't match up to our digital social media lives? Social media gives us this power to be whomever we want (our Insta-self). So why not make our lives seemingly perfect? What could go wrong?

I don't know about you, but I get a sense of inadequacy when I see posts of other's seemingly good lives. Sometimes I stress about what profile picture I should use, the amount of selfies I've posted in the past month, or how to word my Facebook status to ensure I get the most amount of likes/affirmative comments as possible. When I don't get that affirmative notification saying that someone liked my picture/status/life event, I feel that I've made a huge fool out of myself. A little dramatic, right? I feel that this is where social media has done us wrong. Social media has all of a sudden become the Hunger Games. We survive on likes and affirmative comments, therefore our lives essentially have to be flawless in order to survive. Our relationship has to consist of perfect couple pictures. Our tweets and statuses have to be the perfect mixture of funny and relatable. Our selfies have to feature the best side of us, the best lighting, the best filter, etc. We HAVE to be the Insta-Self. If we're not, we've all of a sudden done something wrong and lost at the game of social media.  

We are literally being Catfished every single day by people we know, AND we're doing the Catfising to people we know.

Here's my challenge for you:

Try and be more honest with your "Insta-self". Quit putting up the front that's going to get you the most likes/comments or show people how absolutely wonderful your life is. Quit comparing your "Real-self" to your friend's "Insta-selves". You're not missing anything and you're selfies are just as beautiful. Social media is a powerful tool and it requires a lot of balance. Be honest with people, but understand that others may not agree with you or they might see right through your "Insta-self".

 Insta-selves can be great. Online, you can portray yourself however you want with hardly any effort. However, they only survive on affirmative responses from others. Real-selves take a little bit more effort to mold, but they survive on the love you have for yourself which is a lot more rewarding than a thumbs-up from Facebook.