As someone who has grown up with the rise of technology and social media, I definitely understand the pressure to "perfect" your online presence. When I was in high school, I would obsess over every picture I posted on Instagram and how many likes it got. I was afraid to be controversial on social media because I wanted people to like me.

Here is something to always remember: people only post what they WANT others to see.

I saw other people posting about how happy they were in their friendships and relationships and wanted to be like them. When I was single, I would feel like something was wrong with me because I didn't have a perfect relationship like the ones I saw my peers having on social media.

It only recently occurred to me that each post on social media should be taken with a grain of salt.

In reality, life is not perfect. Relationships are messy and take a lot of work and commitment. No matter how happy someone looks on the outside, you truly have no idea how they actually feel on the inside. It isn't a bad thing to post happy moments with someone you love, and I am definitely guilty of doing this myself, but I think the stigma of needing to be perfect on social media needs to change.

I'm not saying that people need to post every time they get into a fight with their partner on social media, because it may be inappropriate to not keep certain things private, but I just want to remind people that they shouldn't compare themselves or their own relationships. Instead of focusing on how other people view us, we need to change direction and focus on just genuinely being happy with ourselves and/or the person we are with.

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