A few months back, I overheard a conversation between two teenage girls. They were taking pictures together, and the noticeably younger of the two asked her friend to text the pictures to her. The older one responded, “Why? You don’t even have an Instagram… What are you going to do with them?”
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m ALL about documenting memories. Pictures are like freezing a moment so that you can hold onto it forever. But, we’ve all slipped into the “pics or it didn’t happen” mentality while doing something fun. In the age of social media, we need to examine the motive behind the photographs. Are you capturing beautiful things and people for the sake of remembering? OR are you snapping pictures in order to “self-advertise” on social media?
For the sake of making my point, think of self-advertisement as this: broadcasting yourself and your memories over social media in an effort to compete with others, to validate yourself, or to prove that you have it all together. We all want a life, a relationship, a job, a friendship that other people think is “#GOALS,” but let’s be real—social media is superficial. Anyone can look like they have the perfect life through their Instagram feed and be falling apart in reality.
This snippet of an eavesdropped teenage girl conversation absolutely epitomizes the mentality of our generation. We take pictures, not only with the intent of adding to the image we’ve created for ourselves on social media, but also to top that of our friends.
Not to sound like a grandma, but it’s the epidemic of our generation. We’re obsessed with comparing our lives to the lives of people we only know through pictures on Instagram. Because of this, we all try to create a perfect social media version of ourselves: someone that’s always doing fun things, always looks flawless, and always laughs the days away without a care in the world. HELLO! No one lives like that!
I hate to break it to you, but that model that you follow on Instagram? Her pictures are most likely photo-shopped, and she probably spent hours getting her hair and makeup done. That couple that’s always traveling and adventuring? They have problems, fights, and insecurities just like the rest of us.
In the back of our minds, we all know it’s fake. But we still feed into it and perpetuate the vicious cycle of comparison. Want to make a change? Here are two small things that I recommend:
- Take a break from social media—a day, a week, a month, or however long it takes you to stop instinctively reaching for your phone to scroll through your feed whenever you feel bored.
- BE PRESENT! Leave your phone in your pocket, or better yet, in the car. When you go out to eat with friends, play the “phones in the middle” game. Everyone must place their phones face-down in the center of the table, and whoever breaks and reaches for their phone first pays for the entire table’s meal.
One of favorite quotes states it quite simply: “Comparison is the thief of joy.” With that, please put down your phone. Stop comparing and start living. Your life is what you make it.
