Filters. What do you think of when you see that word? Coffee filters, air filters? Probably not, you think of Instagram. Instagram filters make us look tanner, prettier, more creative and sometimes even skinnier. Don't get me wrong, I love Instagram, it's my favorite social media app #artsy. However, the excessive use of filters and the incessant need to share pictures has slipped out of the phones in our hands and into our lives.
We only dress up in our best outfits if there is going to be a picture taken and we fight over who gets to put it on social media. When our eyebrows are on #fleek, we take a selfie. We only want our followers to see our “best" self.
People get famous purely for the pictures they post, leading followers to believe their life is as good as that Valencia filter makes that sunset look. The truth is, we filter our lives. The trends we follow, the attitudes we have and the personas we put on, are filters. Those filters hide who we truly are and what we truly think. You don't even like avocado toast but you're still gonna eat it cause it makes for a good “Insta." And don't you dare try to inspire others with a quote unless it's paired with a nature picture or written in calligraphy. I'm totally guilty of doing things like that. Self-confidence and self worth can coincide with likes or followers. We do things solely based on gaining those two things.
How many posts do you see on your feed depicting the mundane and sometimes not so pretty things of life? You probably don't see many and if you do they probably don't have many likes. We have been trained to see things through a filter, making us think that other people have perfect lives and we strive to be like them. In doing this we lose the ability to see the beauty in the mundane. Sometimes, life is average and ordinary and not instagrammable. Guess what, that's okay!
“My Instagram of my best friends didn't get 100 likes so it's not good... people probably don't like us." – I actually heard a middle schooler say this.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Your best friends are priceless and who cares who likes your picture. Your sushi roll isn't perfect enough to Instagram? Good, you can actually eat it and it enjoy it instead of watching the likes roll in on your phone. What do you do when you break up with your significant other? You unfollow them; obviously after you finish that pint of Ben and Jerry's.
Most of us can remember a time when we didn't use filters or hashtags. Simplier times. Like I said I love Instagram. I love holding my cheese fries up in the air a snapping a picture. I love when I figure out the most perfect and clever caption. However, I also love leaving my phone in my purse or at home sometimes. I love having a solid conversation with friends who aren't scrolling through newsfeeds and comparing themselves to others.
So next time you get the most perfect scoop of gelato or see the prettiest sunset, don't instagram it. Take it in for what it's worth, the good the bad and the ugly, sans filter.
