You can be anything you want to be. You are special. You matter. These are the phrases that our generation grew up hearing on repeat. Our parents wanted us to know that we all had unique voices that the world was eager to hear. But now that we’re all grown up, is the world still as eager?
“Generation Z” was raised to feel important. Every parent thinks their child is the best, and obviously this thinking rubs off on the child itself. Of course there is nothing wrong with having a strong self-esteem, but as with anything good, too much of it exists. When a generation that already believes it is wonderful collides with social media supplying an unlimited audience, the result is not pretty. We have become so consumed in sharing our lives with world that we are forgetting to actually live them.
Ever since platforms like Snapchat and Instagram have become popular, people have turned even the most mundane of activities into breaking news. We feel the need to instantly share a picture of our pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks without thinking for a second; does anyone even care about this? It has become an ingrained reflex to tell the universe about every positive aspect going on in your life, no matter how minuscule and underwhelming it actually is. At this point, sharing is automatic. And contrary to popular belief, sometimes sharing is not so caring.
Not only are we posting boring content, we are twisting everything to seem cool and exclusive. Even if you’re at a not-so-lit party, with the right Snapchat filter and the right song playing in the background, you can trick everyone into thinking you’re having the night of your life. Every party looks more fun, every meal looks more delicious, and everyone looks more attractive when it’s posted online. People have become obsessed with making their lives look as perfect, glamorous, and FOMO-inducing as possible.
But this type of “life airbrushing” comes with a price. How is our generation supposed to be content with what we have when we are being constantly bombarded with someone else’s highlights and forced to compare the two? There will always be someone out there on the Internet with a nicer car or a better wardrobe or a hotter boyfriend than you. It’s hard not to feel as though your accomplishments are worthless while they are continually being measured up against everyone else’s.
The only way out of this vicious circle is to put it into perspective. As the great, omniscient Taylor Swift once said, “Never compare [yourself] to other people. It is comparing [your] behind-the-scenes to their highlight reel.” This is the solution. We need to recognize that all of the pictures posted online are the very best and highly edited snippets of people’s lives and there are so many unglamorous chunks being purposefully left out. As a generation, we need to make an active effort to not live our lives neither through our phone’s camera lens nor through an overly critical lens.
