What No One Liking My Instagram In 3 Minutes Taught Me About Self-Love

The other day I found myself doing what any normal college girl trying to avoid homework would do: scroll through Instagram. I then decided to further encourage my procrastination by attempting to find a picture to post because I hadn't posted in over a week. (If you've never done this, you're lying).

After wasting 30 minutes of my life to look for a picture, I spent another 15 minutes editing and finally decided to post. It was pretty cute, I must say. After creating a caption (which everyone knows is just as, if not more important than the edit itself) I posted the picture.

I like to think I have a fairly decent Instagram. I don't have thousands of followers and I don't pull hundreds of likes, but I usually get enough. I checked how the picture looked in my aesthetic (duh) and refreshed my notifications.

...no one had liked it.

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It wasn't that big of a deal and it wasn't prime time anyway, so I couldn't be too upset. I decided to put my phone down. A watched pot never boils, right?

I picked it up a minute later and still no one had liked the picture! Honestly, what was wrong with me? Was this picture not as cute as I thought? Was the caption not clever enough? Why don't people like me?

But, it was then, in that long second minute that I realized I don't need anyone's pity likes. I don't care if you like me or my picture, I love myself! I thought the picture was cute and that's all the validation that I need.

...all joking aside, the moral of the story here is that you don't need anyone's validation on social media. In three minutes, three hours, or three days. Take a step back and ask yourself if your social media is even a representation of yourself in the first place. I can certainly say with complete honesty that the one picture I happen to post in a week is in no way a representation of my who I am every day so why do I care so much if people literally like that?

One picture doesn't show my stress after a long day, the bad hair days, the arguments I got in with my boyfriend, or the bad meal I ate. But, it also doesn't show the A I got on an exam, the workout I smashed, or a movie night with friends. You are more than a square space and virtual likes. Act like it.