The millennial generation is the most insecure generation there has ever been but it’s not our fault.
The reason for this is we have a lot of requirements placed on us by society that we need to meet in order to be successful. Some of the requirements aren’t so different from the past including the importance placed on school, getting good grades, receiving a degree, finding a job that turns into a career as well as get married and have kids, hopefully in that order.
This Brady Bunch, white-picket fence, traditional lifestyle has been the norm for the American society ever since I can remember, and lifestyles that challenge this norm are often scrutinized. Taking the road less traveled is no easy task and this has been the case for a very long time; nothing new here.
What’s different about being a young adult in 2017 versus 1997, though, is that now we have social media, which has heightened expectations for young adults.
This shouldn’t be much of a surprise because we are constantly being told by older generations, but it’s nonetheless interesting to discuss.
The millennial generation has people who post four pictures of themselves in a day, wearing the same two-piece bikini with captions suggesting something along the lines of “gotta get me some vitamin sea” or “beach bum” (insert picture of girl in thong bikini here).
Do millennials go on exotic spring breaks to unwind from their busy lives, or did they watch "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" and “do it for the insta”?
Also, what is special about going out on a Wednesday night in your University’s small-town bar? Congrats you have 400 likes on a picture of you standing by a wall in your apartment but you’re also wearing clothes that are meant to be worn at a club in Manhattan, not a bar that plays “Country Girl Shake It For Me."
Sure, if it’s your friend’s birthday post a cute picture, do the whole, unoriginal balloon thing, more power to you; but why oh why take a random picture of yourself when there is no occasion to be celebrated and why are you standing alone? Did you really ask your friend to take that picture of you? Why are your lips pursed like that? Are you choking on a sweet tart? Does something smell bad? Is that your cat’s litter box in the back ground? Oh God, it's a mirror selfie.
To sound even more like a square, it seems both girls and boys are just dying to show as much skin as possible which is honestly fine, I’m no prude but I do wonder why? Why are guys showing off their killer abs and why are girls showing their Nicki Minaj booty? Also Education Major, I'm pretty sure your future employer isn't going to be really impressed with your thong bikini, but they're probably going to be very impressed that you got 500 likes for wearing it.
Not all skin is bad, though, I mean if you're at a beach chances are you're going to be dressed accordingly. That being said, we don't need four duelies of you and your strawberry daiquiri.
Staying on the subject of skin, I'm a big fan of a good #TransformationTuesday post. If Tubby McTubberson spent the last year eating spinach, didn't drink beer and worked out six days a week he better take a bow and show off his progress. Go Tubby! That's awesome! They are proud of the progress they’ve made and going the whole ‘Got it, flaunt it’ route. They made huge progress and they SHOULD show it off, maybe they'll inspire someone else.
My theory, though, is that in most cases people are looking for compliments and validation and anything that will make them feel like they fit the societal standard of what ‘beauty’ is, which in the world of social media, is the little thumbs-up icon saying that so-and-so ‘liked’ it. Sad (queue Donald Trump tweet).
Another fun question to pose: Do people ‘like’ social media posts because they like the picture or do they like it so people will like there’s back? I don’t really care, I’ve got some pretty active thumbs, but I’ve noticed now, in 2017, when a girl posts a picture of herself, her squad will comment "HOT" or something along those lines.
What happens if someone in squad forgets to comment on it? Are they out of squad? Will they not be invited to the next Herbalife outing? I’m not judging I just want to know the rules. Is there a rulebook? Ultimately it’s whatever, tell your bestie she’s hot; girl power is cool and totally fine, it’s just interesting to watch people taking organic chem revert to a high school Regina George (pre-bus accident).
And then there are captions. Don't get me wrong, I love myself a funny, witty caption, but honestly sometimes people try just too hard. The effort is appreciated but jeesh Starbucks drinkers, less is more and please refrain from using lyrics from Rihanna, you are not bad for wearing the same dark lipstick you saw on Kylie Jenner, who, by the way, cannot legally drink alcohol.
This might sound like I am opposed to social media, and that’s actually not true at all. I have every kind of social media (as far as I know) and I check some of them daily and others not so daily. I love posting pictures when I go to a concert, or when I go on a nice vacation or even if it’s a random night with a group of friends playing board games.
Capture the moment, so you can remember it forever.
I’m not here to critique the use of social media but I do wonder if people care more about their presence on social media than the actual experience or moment they are trying to capture. My hope is that people spent a thousand dollars to go to Mexico to see the ocean, step on the soft sand and not to sit in their hotel room trying to think up a witty caption and find the perfect filter.
Perhaps I should just unfollow them, though?
