Social Media: Living in LaLa Land

We are constantly surrounded by social media; it is how some people get their “news” and how people feel connected to the rest of the w...


We are constantly surrounded by social media; it is how some people get their “news” and how people feel connected to the rest of the world. Millennials in particular seem fond of social media and have adopted it into their everyday lives. We currently live in a digital culture, meaning that we are significantly influenced by technology and the internet. We seem to live and breathe the media and sometimes have a hard time separating our digital and real-life selves. With the rise of social media influencers and users, social media is becoming more powerful than ever. There is so much power behind a like, tweet and comment; that is the problem though. Since there is so much power amongst users on social media, people’s lives and sense of self are being diminished due to social media.
Generally speaking, social media has created an atmosphere that promotes unrealistic expectations for users. For example, more and more people are actually making a decent living off of social media. There are YouTubers who have millions of subscribers and are earning nearly six figures in a year, without having a college degree. In addition, Instagram has become a place for companies and brands to pay people with a massive following to promote their products and to get paid well for it. Social media has changed the way in which people earn money and has become a full-time career for many. Seeing the lavish lifestyle of social media influencers has led young people to believe that anyone can become famous and that being on social media is all sunshine and rainbows. When in reality, what those people post are simply façades and does not truly depict their everyday lives. Being bombarded with images of thin models and lavish lifestyles can really tear down someone’s self-confidence and body image. It is already bad enough that Hollywood promotes unobtainable beauty standards but to have those same beauty standards being plastered on social media makes it appear as though anyone can obtain perfection.
 Young women and girls in particular have become so obsessed with how they look on social media, that they will practically do anything to make themselves appear a certain way. With the advancement in technology, we now have beauty editing apps at our disposable that allow you to slim yourself down and to smooth out any blemishes. Specifically, apps such as Facetune and YouCam Perfect have allowed women to literally mold themselves into any shape they desire. These kinds of apps send the message that perfection is possible and easier than ever to obtain. Instead promoting self-love, they are simply normalizing the socially constructed beauty standards. Recently, there has been an increased connection between social media usage and depression. Studies have shown a dramatic increase in adolescents suffering with depression and have found that social media has played a major role. For example, Nina Langton was a 16-year old girl who suffered with depression and attempted to commit suicide. When asked why she tried to commit suicide, she stated that it was because of all the images she saw on her Instagram feed and how those made her feel inadequate.
Personally, I used to struggle a lot in high school with body image and confidence. At the time I was obsessed with social media and cared so much about how many likes my pictures got or what others thought about me. The more I became consumed in social media, the more I felt like I was losing myself. Looking back now, I wish I could tell my old self to just love herself and to tell her that perfection does not exist. Now that I am 22 years old, I have fully accepted myself, including all of my flaws and have found the beauty in being different. At the end of the day, people need to realize that what they see on social media is just smoke and mirrors and is not real-life. 

-Sincerely,
Sinead

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