Whenever there is a big moment in someone's life, usually everyone knows about it right away, whether it is a wedding, the birth of a baby, a house purchase, engagement, new job, etc. The reason so many people know about these life milestones is, you guessed it, because of social media posts and shares.
My first exposure to social media was in high school when I got a MySpace account (it was quite a hit back then!). I remember many mirror selfies, layers on top of layers of filters over photos, seemingly constant profile background changes and playlists. MySpace was basically the number one fun obsession for everyone around ten years ago.
Social media has since grown to become this new space where you share every aspect of your life, but sometimes people share so much that nothing is truly private anymore. Everyone wants to know everything that you are doing, like what you ate for lunch, your workout routine, movies you just watched, down to pretty much every single detail.
It seems to be worse when you are a social media star, or what they now call a "social media influencer," when you have people constantly stalking your feed wondering what you are going to do next. It feels like they never get a break, and when they do take a break, people get angry at them. Well, social media influencers are people, too. Just like us, they need breaks every now and then, otherwise they may end up going insane! Step in their shoes. Wouldn't you feel overwhelmed?
Take a step back, and think a bit about all the important times in your life that you've shared online, especially times when you interrupted a special moment for the purpose of posting it for others to see. An example that comes to mind about oversharing in social media is marriage proposals. When many people propose nowadays, their engagements are shortly followed by posts of the engagement photos and videos onto their profiles. That's fine and even lovely to see, but it is also it is perfectly okay for something like a proposal to be a private, intimate moment just between you and your partner (that is how it was with me and my fiancé Peter). It is okay to have a day with each other where you aren't posting every moment on there. Unplug sometimes, and make those life-changing moments matter as they unfold!
In this age where everyone is obsessed with social media, we all need to take a break from it and just go out there to enjoy the world we try to hard to capture for uploading and likes. I feel like we all fell into the social media trap bit. Don't get me wrong, it is fun, but it can be addicting sometimes, so addicting that we forget to actually live out our lives to the fullest. We forget that there is a whole world out there waiting to be explored outside of our screens!
While I will admit that I am guilty of using social media often, with Instagram being on the top of my list, I remember that it is also good to take a break from all of the drama online and just focus on yourself and self-care. It's easy to forget that sometimes social media can unintentionally make you compare your lives to those of others, which may often spark jealously. Stop torturing yourselves with those feelings, and make the best of what you have in your own life. Instead of wishing you had someone else's life that's on your screen, make your own memories and cherish them.
Now put down your phone, get out there and live in the moment because in this day and age we need life and human connection more than ever.