Social media plays a large role in today's world and our everyday lives. If you’re anything like me, you post on social media daily and you enjoy sharing your life with the internet world.
With that being said there’s a lot of pressure for anything you put on social media to be “aesthetically pleasing” and the aesthetic that has seem to take over is “artsy.” Now, if you’re not one to partake in the latest social media trends you might be wondering what that even means.
Being “artsy” means taking advantage of posing, lighting, angles and filters to make your pictures/accounts look cooler and give off a “hipster” vibe. Lately, there’s a lot of pressure for people to portray themselves as this even if it’s not who they really are.
Some people even go as far as using apps like FaceTune or Photoshop to completely alter their bodies, faces, hair and makeup in order to portray themselves differently. The motive for people who do this lies behind the attraction to having thousands of followers and likes, but has how you look on social media really become more important than who you actually are as a person?
With the stigma surrounding this topic there’s something that hasn’t been said; It’s OK to not be “artsy” and it’s OK to just be who you are. It’s OK if you don’t have thousands of followers and if you don’t get a considerably large amount of likes on social media. You don’t have to Photoshop yourself to look good and you don’t have to use a follower/like app (or pay for followers/likes) in order to feel good about yourself.
Let’s call this level of “fame” what it really is: attention for not really being good at anything or doing anything significant. If you want to be known for something, don’t you think it’s more productive to actually go out and do something? If you want to be known for having a “nice body” don’t you think you would feel a lot better about yourself in the end if you actually worked for it instead of photoshopping it? It’s OK to want to capture your life in photos and post them, but your life is a lot more beautiful when what’s being portrayed is genuine.
I admit that my friends and I fall under the pressure to be “artsy,” but you can’t be happy if how you’re portraying yourself is 100 percent fake. As a generation, we are focusing on the wrong things. Living in the moment, being truly happy with your life and who you are as a person is so important, not the amount of likes you get on a picture.
We need to stop putting this type of “fame” on a pedestal and appreciate the real things in life. We need to learn to appreciate the beauty that lies within just living life and being yourself. You can care about your image without having to completely alter it; you’re beautiful without filters and Photoshop. Life is better when it’s real, things are better when you work for them, you are happier when you love yourself. It’s OK to love yourself, it’s important to love yourself, but that is not something that will bloom from having a lot of followers or likes.
The attention and love you’re getting is not real or meaningful, at the end of the day you probably won’t feel better about yourself. Loving and appreciating yourself is the most important and fulfilling thing you can do. These are the things no one is saying but everyone needs to hear. These are the realizations that we need to come to. You are more than just a number in every way, don’t let that of all things be what defines you.
