One of the most important part of a teenager's life these days is the number of likes that they get on a post on social media. Our lives are taken over by these numbers, which in reality mean absolutely nothing. We've become obsessed with creating a perfect image of ourselves for an audience that has no idea what is actually going on in our lives. We spend so much time editing photos, thinking of clever captions, and planning out just the right time to post in order for the maximum amount of followers to see the post in hopes that they will give us that almighty "like" or "favorite."

In an effort to make a point about all these things we do on social media, Essena O'Neill, an Australian teen who made her claim to fame by racking up over half a million followers on Instagram, recently changed the title of her Instagram account to "Social Media Is Not Real," deleted over 2,000 photos and edited captions on the remaining photos to things that truly represented the content in the photo. Here are a few examples of the edited captions

The captions added to her photos bring to light the problems we have today with our constant need for perfection and validation that we are "perfect." All the time we spend on perfecting ourselves for our followers on social media is precious time that we could be spending on other things, like bettering ourselves and making a difference in the world.

I'm not here to tell you to stop posting about your life on the Internet because I have also been caught in the social media trap. I'm just here to remind you that next time you're obsessively editing that photo or spending so much time thinking of a clever caption, think: Who are you trying to impress? Are people really going to remember your perfectly edited Instagram post in twenty years? Social media can be a fun way to share aspects of your life and connect with people, but don't let it take over your life.