Dear Social Media,
Oh how we love to mindlessly scroll through Facebook and Instagram. I mean, how else would we vicariously live through the glamorous lives of celebrities? For me, social media has always been a bit overwhelming, especially as I’ve become an “adult”. Seeing celebrities at Coachella or the Met Ball is one thing. They’re beautiful, and those lives are unattainable.
Today, I’m here to talk about the overwhelming feeling of ineptitude that comes from following friends or friends-adjacent. What are “friends-adjacent”? They’re those “friends” whose faces you know and have met or went to school with. You don’t have a real day-to-day interaction with them, but you like to keep up with them.
But do you really?
Let’s talk about a few things that social media just straight up instigates:
Memories
This is one of those “cool” things that Facebook does. I mean, don’t you want to know that you graduated from high school or college multiple years ago? Don’t you want to be reminded of the “good times” you had with an ex? Seriously, Facebook. Work on an algorithm that removes things that either make you feel old or even remotely connects you to an ex.
Algorithms in General
There has been a ton of debate about the recent updates to Instagram’s algorithm. Generally, they’re more likely to show you images based on things that you’ve liked in the past. I’m going to like a lot of positive things. I’m an aspiring event and wedding planner, so I’m going to love a lot of things about love. Thus, love stories and weddings keep getting shoved down my throat, reminding me that I’m single.
So, here’s my recommendation:
Can we all be a little more real? One of the best accounts I follow is @rawbeautytalks. I originally heard about it through Kaitlyn Bristowe when she brought up the follies of social media a few months ago. A goal was to post a real photo every week. No editing, no super posing or taking a hundred tries to find the perfect lighting…just real.
There have been so many times when I just want to cut off social media because of the way it makes me feel. As a blogger, I don’t really have that as an opportunity. Social media is the only way to promote myself. No, I don’t have a small fortune to spend a ton on ads. I haven’t received a small fortune from affiliate links. Yes, I do follow a lot of bloggers who post about how they make thousands of dollars right out the gate. That’s even harder to stomach.
So, social media, let’s stop making others feel bad about themselves. No, it’s likely not intentional, but it still happens. We work so hard to publicly show the perfect life instead of the real one we’re really living.
