Our lives behind our Instagram filters are not as exciting or artsy as they seem. Sure, we have our weekly events that were actually entertaining and casual, but 90 percent of the photos we post for our 800+ followers to see and swoon over are merely an over-exaggeration of what actually went down. I’m guilty of this, you’re guilty of this—we’re all guilty of this. Below are a few examples of the process we all take part in before posting a picture on Instagram.
1. On Instagram we love each other. In real life it took us 28 minutes to take one decent picture. Our rare pictures with our siblings seem cute and loving on our friends’ newsfeeds, but in reality, we fought about everything, from taking the picture, to who gets to be on what side, to which picture to actually post. Lovable in our Instagrid, disagreeable behind the camera.
2. On Instagram this book seems so interesting. In real life we’re counting the pages until the chapter ends. Those pictures you see your friends post of a 300-page book next to a cup of coffee on a hammock seem easygoing, relaxed and enjoyable. In actuality, we probably are on page one, dislike coffee and are struggling to find a comfortable position in the not-so-relaxing hammock we forced ourselves to enjoy.
3. On Instagram the party was epic. In real life we spent the entire night just taking a picture. If you’ve ever scrolled through your feed on a Saturday night, I’m sure you’ve seen at least nine pictures from the It-party. Everyone seems to be relishing in the sick memories, but in reality we were all sitting against a wall, talking about how this party sucks and figuring out which filter to use on the pic we’re gonna post.
4. On Instagram the picture of the kale Caesar salad looks New Fork City worthy. In real life it sucked. If the food looks good, we’ll post the picture, even if our taste buds are permanently ruined. If it’ll get the likes or the “my mouth is watering” comments, we’ll make it seem like paying $20 for a salad was worth it.
5. On Instagram we’re so casual. In reality we posed. This picture wasn’t on accident, we purposely were staring out into the view that was ahead of us. What you don’t see in the Insta pic is our mouths mumbling, “Did you take it yet?” to the photographer (most likely our mom).
6. On Instagram we're having a fun beach day. In real life it's way too hot. “Take a pic of me tanning.” "Take a pic of the beach.” We all make it seem like we’re enjoying the big waves, the bright sun and the company of our friends. In reality, these waves are annoying, it feels like I’m in the deserts of Dubai and everyone around me is pissing me off. But I’ll make it seem like I had a good day on insta.
7. On Instagram we look effortless. In real life this was selfie #32. We’re not all gifted with Kim Kardashian selfie skills, and even though the one we finally posted seems natural, it probably took us over 30 tries to master the selfie game, as well as four different filters.
8. On Instagram we’re happy to share our friend's birthday. In real life we’re dreading posting another “Happy birthday!” Insta.
We’re all obligated to post a collage or a simple picture for our best friend's birthday, but even though we seem thrilled to celebrate another year of our friends’ existence, we’re already over the paragraph we have to write to publicize our friendship.There are rare occasions when our lives are actually exciting and eventful, but for the most part we’re all over exaggerating our daily encounters by publicizing them through a small picture frame. That’s alright, though, since we all do it.
