Validation can be a scary word when the world is suddenly based on liking things online. A simple click or double tap goes straight to the person sharing the content you're staring at and notifies them that you basically approve of what they're posting or doing.

We spend time thinking of captions, figuring out what to post and when, but we lose sight of what's important and the positive side to the recent advantages in technology. Do we genuinely like the picture? Is it something we want to share, or do we know it's going to be talked about/get a significant amount of likes? We all like positive feedback and sometimes even silent feedback by the means of likes, but does any of it really matter?

The answer is simply no.

This may be hard to believe when your latest Instagram post completely altered your mood and made your insecurities go away because Stacy unexpectedly complimented your makeup, but it's true.

Stacy's opinion shouldn't matter more than yours.

There was a world without social media and posting not too long ago. People didn't have to worry about being turned into a meme for wearing a weird outfit or being caught off guard on camera (or worse). There were photographs taken that could be destroyed by being thrown out or ripped to shreds. Pictures weren't sent off into the unknown space of the internet and they definitely weren't put into VSCO to see which filter fit best.

Whether we realize it or not, we're comparing ourselves. We're wondering why we don't look like the person on our favorite account or why our lives don't seem to match up to other people we see on our feeds. This takes a toll on people mentally and may always keep them thinking or making unnecessary changes.

For example, you may have loved your outfit before you got online and saw what someone else was wearing. You may have loved the photo you took before you compared it to another account you stumbled across. It's unhealthy and becomes stressful if it gets too far.

The world needs to realize that validation is not based on likes or comments.

If you love a photo and want to post it, do it.

After all, they're just a bunch of numbers on an application anyway.