Type Kim Kardashian's name into Twitter, now Taylor Swift, now your favorite celebrity. Each time I searched a celebrity's name on Twitter, thousands of accounts pop up (none of them being the right one). Thousands of people are pretending to be someone other than themselves through social media platforms. It is our instinct to automatically blame the media for showing us unrealistic perceptions of society. At one point in time, that might have been true. However, we are our own worst enemies because of the way we represent and distort our true selves on social media.
Social media allows us to post whatever we want, whenever we want. It has given us the ability to hide behind screens allowing others to judge us for the lives we want them to think we have. Now, go to Instagram. How many filters are there? Twenty-three. There are twenty-three filters on Instagram. (if you can't tell, this baffles me)
Ever seen the documentary "Catfish" or the television show, "Catfish" on MTV? This TV series brings together couples who have solely interacted through social media. Catfish [kat-fish] verb: To pretend to be someone you're not online by posting false information, such as someone else's pictures, on social media sites usually with the intention of getting someone to fall in love with you.
And to think, we are entertained by all of this. We enjoy watching others get Catfished on TV and we like to alter our Instagram photos (because I'm not going to post this no makeup selfie without editing it beyond recognition).
Recognize this social media famous teenager?
No? How about now?
This is Essena O'Neill. She was a social media famous teenager from Australia. She had more than half a million followers on Instagram, but has quit the platform, describing it as “contrived perfection made to get attention”, and called for others to quit social media – perhaps with help from her new website.
On October 27, 2015, she deleted more than 2,000 photos, “that served no real purpose other than self-promotion”, and edited the captions to the remaining 96 posts in an attempt to reveal the manipulation and insecurity behind them.
Now, I am not saying we need to drastically dispose of all of our social media. But maybe, just maybe, we should take a word of advice from this young, but wise teenager. Take a break from social media, don't alter your Instagram photos as much, and be your true self on social media.
