Everyone I know has either Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, or all of them. More often than not, we are posting to these sites daily to keep our friends and family updated on what's going on in our lives. We post what we have for breakfast, gym selfies, pictures of our significant others, and funny videos of our pets. What we don't post is the problem.
I want to be very clear that this article is not encouraging over-sharing, as we do that too much already. The intent of this article is to be more conscientious of the photos that we are posting.
Did you use seven filters on your photo? Did you wait to post it at "peak" time so you can get more likes or retweets? Did you spend 45 minutes trying to think of a caption? Did you post it because it matches the aesthetic of your feed or because it's a photo that means more to you than it does other people?
Too often, we post for everyone on social media but ourselves. We overshare and let people know a little too much about us and we only share pictures that don't fully depict the situation. Your social media account can be polished, filtered, and the like, but as you are editing think about why you are editing it.
It's OK to just post a casual picture that you just like or makes you happy. You don't always have to post the picture you think will get the most likes; you can post the one that you like the most, makes you laugh the most, or just means the most to you.
It's OK to be vulnerable in your posts. It's OK to not have a filter or a caption and post in the middle of the night or early morning and not get that many likes.
Your social media is for you and should make you feel strong and content simply by being in control of what you are sharing. We need to stop feeling the pressure of needing to please other people and show our most polished selves 24/7. Post the sweaty post-run picture with no filter that made you feel powerful.
Post the unedited picture of you and your best friend that was candid and you have a zit on your forehead. Post the tweet that says you aren't feeling the best but that's life.
Don't be scared to be vulnerable because being vulnerable shows strength. It shows that you are confident in who you are and how you represent yourself. Make sure everything you are posting is something for yourself or to reach others positively, not for others approval or critique.
