Since being back at school, I have been reflecting about how I used my time while being at home. My days were filled with food, family, and friends, and I was nonstop the entire time. I saw almost everyone from home, and now that I am back at school, it seems that the people I did not see are the ones who have been on my mind lately. I felt so bad for not seeing them, and in the recent couple of days I have been calling them, and texting them. I also have been thinking about why it was that I did not see them. I figured out what it was: just because I did not physically see them, I saw them virtually, and for most of us that is just fine. But is what we are seeing on our phones the real version of our friends?
I think one of the hardest parts about living in the 21st century is “seeing” everyone but not actually seeing them. If you watch someone’s Snapchat at the end of the day, all of your questions are answered. You know who they were with, where they were (thank you geo-tags) and what they were doing. I mean why even text them when all of your questions are answered? Then you go on Instagram and you see that they have a cute picture with their roommate. So according to social media, your friends are having a grand ole time and have somehow missed the boat on the hard times of college.
Then, you decide to text them and see how they have been doing, it turns into a 45-minute conversation about how much they hate their roommate and how hard school is for them. Then you get off of the phone and you feel like you have been completely lied to. The past few months the picture in your head of your friend was that they were doing really well. You would have never guessed that your friend was going through such a hard time at college, because according to social media they are #blessed to have such a #greatroommate and according to social media they are #goals. Who knew?
Why do we do this to ourselves? We sit all over social media and watch people having the time of their life, and we think: “Why can’t my life be that great?” But we fail to remember that all good college students still have to go to classes, they sometimes have to sacrifice a Friday night and they are constantly losing sleep because they are studying so much. The hardest part about social media is the fact that it puts this unrealistic image in our head of what college life should be like. And we feel obliged to do the same. What we need is to start portraying our lives in a more honest way, and not lying to people all over social media. If this does not suffice, then pick up the phone and call your friends to see how they are actually doing.
