By the looks of this photo, I guess you could say that my dog and I are “#Goals”. I mean, just look at how photogenic we are!
Sadly, it’s not the whole story...
Okay, fine. The secret’s out. Asha (my dog) didn’t reflexively lick my face upon lying down. She first pawed my face repeatedly, then proceeded to become utterly disinterested in my presence before I practically forced her to lick my face to get the cute picture I was determined to capture (It’s not as weird as it sounds, I swear. Actually on second thought….) Photos show a brief screenshot in time, most of the time not an authentic screenshot either, rather an exceptional moment that can create an illusion of having a deceivingly good time. With the expanding and evolving use of technology and social media, it is crucial that we are aware of these illusions–not only for our sake and sanity–but for those scrolling through the feeds as well. In a world where one has to blatantly declare that their picture is not edited (#nofilter, am I right?) and our perceived self worth can be influenced by the number of likes we receive on a post, the only question one must ask before posting is “Does this make my life look good?”
That was a lot of heavy content and word vomit, so I’ll slow things down.
My intent is not to say how much time people are spending on their screens now-a-days; how we’re “missing out on the 'real' world", or how the blue-light on our phone is destroying humanity. Being somebody that checks my phone first thing in the morning and last thing right before bed, that would be hypocritical. In our free time in between classes and meetings, or unwinding after a long day, why wouldn’t we scroll through social media? Our feeds are full of people or topics that we choose to follow because we’re interested in them! They’re full of beautiful people and inspirational captions, funny comments and replies, and the newest dramatic stories and subtweets. It’s entertaining, it’s amusing, and–most of all–it’s simply not realistic…
Scrolling through vacation photos deciding which to post, we opt for the most attractive, tanned, swimsuit-clad versions of ourselves, laughing, while coincidentally placed in front of a beautiful sunset on the beach. We choose the pristine mountain top view of wide-open land, captioning it “The Mountains are Calling, and I Must Go”. After a night out with friends, it’s the picture perfect moment of everybody smiling joyously while embracing that we share. It’s the “candid” photos that we pretend we had no idea was being taken, yet happen to be conveniently placed in front of the beautifully graffitied wall while wearing an outfit that looks straight out of a clothing catalog. Nobody cares about the average sandwich you ate for lunch, but the gourmet coffee with the fun-foam-top aside a warm croissant? Awww, yeah! We announce the colleges we decide on, our engagement, the newest family puppy, where we are traveling to next, and the experience you had today that was “such a great time….” We’re fed the notion that sharing the positive spreads positivity, so it seems we should be sharing these photos and moments that show us feeling confident and joyful. But what we fail to acknowledge is that these examples make up about 99% of what we see online, but only represent about 5% of our true experiences, giving false illusions about our lives…
Where are the pictures and updates of us sitting in the airport waiting for our delayed flight? Or the talk about sitting in the car for 20+ hours on a road trip? After all, it’s a pretty big component of road trips. Where are the pictures of us in our 7:45 class attire– the sweatpants that accompanied us to bed topped off with sloppy hair to match? Don’t worry, I’m not going to act like I’m an exception when it comes to the game of social media. I enhance and tweak my photos to get my intended fairytale-esque quality. I go outside on particularly beautiful evenings solely to catch the fluorescent sky and breathtaking tranquility of the dusk. I don’t talk about how anticlimactic the trip to Washington D.C. actually was and how my parents threatened to find a flight home if us kids didn’t at least act like we were having fun. No way! I show the pictures of us in front of the monuments, smiling like everybody would expect!
As humans, we tend not to share the ordinary, but the extraordinary. We want others to see our grand experiences, resulting in, well, everybody else feeling like crap… With the expansion of social media use comes an increasing number of studies attempting to determine the effect social media has on our well-being. A recent study from the University of Scheffield has shown that spending just one hour a day on social media reduces young people's satisfaction and happiness in life up to 14%[1]. The Guardian also recently posted an article giving evidence from a survey of nearly 1,500 individuals aged 14-24 regarding social media use and which forms of social media have the most negative impact on wellbeing. Based on fourteen different criteria, including "effect on sleep, anxiety, depression, loneliness, self-identity, bullying body image and fear of missing out [FOMO]" the survey revealed the apps that had the most negative effects were (...drumroll please!) Instagram and Snapchat[2]… Personally, this doesn’t surprise me, and I have had to delete both of these apps multiple times because of the negative effect they had on my well-being. Seeing vacation photo after vacation photo while going about our daily routine can make it seem like we are wasting our lives day-in and day-out while everybody else is out there “experiencing life” (whatever that means)…. Being bombarded with pictures of friends together can make us feel excluded, that we don’t spend enough time with friends, or that we don’t have as many friends (which, okay, fine, for me might be true, but that’s not the point). For somebody struggling with depression, this can lead to feeling even more isolated and alone, worsening the trap created by the brain of needing a way out of their pain, but having no means or motivation of doing so. It’s nice to see quotes that say “Just Breathe” to remind the anxious mind to take a moment to relax, but seeing this alongside the accomplishments and experiences that others are posting about can make the brain go 1000 miles per hour, causing individuals to think about what they need to be doing, what they haven’t done, what they should have done, why they suddenly have a strange pain in their arm– oh god, it must be a heart attack! Oh wait, it’s gone… Wait, it’s back… (But at least I know how to breathe, am I right?) To the general public, seeing the beautiful, (most likely edited), photos of individuals with toned bodies and perfect poses to enhance their...“assets” can cause feelings of inadequacy and beliefs that we aren’t doing enough when it comes to our bodies or our health; that we’re not as beautiful or fit as everybody else nor ever will be. To somebody with an eating disorder, these “perfect” bodies often become a goal body to attain, and then attempt to surpass, while food photos become a game of “who can eat better/healthier/less”…
As humans, we tend not to share the ordinary, but the extraordinary. We want others to see our grand experiences, resulting in, well, everybody else feeling like crap… With the expansion of social media use comes an increasing number of studies attempting to determine the effect social media has on our well-being. A recent study from the University of Scheffield has shown that spending just one hour a day on social media reduces young people's satisfaction and happiness in life up to 14%[1]. The Guardian also recently posted an article giving evidence from a survey of nearly 1,500 individuals aged 14-24 regarding social media use and which forms of social media have the most negative impact on wellbeing. Based on fourteen different criteria, including "effect on sleep, anxiety, depression, loneliness, self-identity, bullying body image and fear of missing out [FOMO]" the survey revealed the apps that had the most negative effects were (...drumroll please!) Instagram and Snapchat[2]… Personally, this doesn’t surprise me, and I have had to delete both of these apps multiple times because of the negative effect they had on my well-being. Seeing vacation photo after vacation photo while going about our daily routine can make it seem like we are wasting our lives day-in and day-out while everybody else is out there “experiencing life” (whatever that means)…. Being bombarded with pictures of friends together can make us feel excluded, that we don’t spend enough time with friends, or that we don’t have as many friends (which, okay, fine, for me might be true, but that’s not the point). For somebody struggling with depression, this can lead to feeling even more isolated and alone, worsening the trap created by the brain of needing a way out of their pain, but having no means or motivation of doing so. It’s nice to see quotes that say “Just Breathe” to remind the anxious mind to take a moment to relax, but seeing this alongside the accomplishments and experiences that others are posting about can make the brain go 1000 miles per hour, causing individuals to think about what they need to be doing, what they haven’t done, what they should have done, why they suddenly have a strange pain in their arm– oh god, it must be a heart attack! Oh wait, it’s gone… Wait, it’s back… (But at least I know how to breathe, am I right?) To the general public, seeing the beautiful, (most likely edited), photos of individuals with toned bodies and perfect poses to enhance their...“assets” can cause feelings of inadequacy and beliefs that we aren’t doing enough when it comes to our bodies or our health; that we’re not as beautiful or fit as everybody else nor ever will be. To somebody with an eating disorder, these “perfect” bodies often become a goal body to attain, and then attempt to surpass, while food photos become a game of “who can eat better/healthier/less”…
Don’t get me wrong, social media isn’t total evil, there are really positive things that can come out of it as well! For example, catching up with friends, informing yourself on news and information that you care about and makes you feel hopeful regarding the world, and watching good youtube videos. After all, nothing calms me down like watching satisfying “Tasty” videos. But even acknowledging all of these positives, the majority of what we see everyday is not benefiting our well-being, but rather leading to feelings of inadequacy and hopelessness. My message throughout all of this is, that, what you post can have a negative effect on others, and you can’t predict whether your post about receiving an honorable scholarship or award might trigger somebody to feel as bad about themselves as you feel proud. If you are somebody who struggles with the impulse of constantly checking your feeds despite knowing they make you feel crummy, try deleting the apps that are causing you angst and see how it affects your mental health. It can be surprising to find out how little you miss the apps when you do this.
Understanding how social media affects mental health is a very new concept that is just beginning to be studied. But by being conscious about what we post, what posts we look at, or if we even decide scroll through our feeds, we have the choice whether or not to make our mental health a priority or to become a statistic... It’s okay to feel happy, it’s okay to feel confident, but it’s not okay to gloat about or sugar-coat your life and experiences for the pure purpose of getting likes. Be real, and be honest with yourself about your experiences–not only for others’ sake–but for your own. Believe it or not, there is a lot of benefit from acknowledging the unpleasant and lackluster in life. It can be a breath of fresh air not to hold oneself accountable for taking an amazing photo or live each moment wondering if this was the perfect experience to share on facebook or tell your friends about next time you see them. People won’t unfollow you if you don’t share every croissant you eat, if you share an unedited photo of yourself, or if you don’t add every time you are with your friends to your snapstory, it will only benefit others… Think about it this way– humans are a lot like drinking water– we’re all the same on a molecular level, some are just choosing to be Fiji water with beautiful packaging while others are content with simply coming straight out of the tap. In a world where you have the choice, choose to be tap water– it’s cost free, and more importantly, there’s no damage being done to the world by the fancy plastic bottles. I’m choosing to be tap water, and low and behold, I’m still Sara.
[1]McDool, Emily and Powell, Philip and Roberts, Jennifer and Taylor, Karl, Social Media Use and Children's Wellbeing. IZA Discussion Paper No. 10412. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2886783.
[2]Campbell, Denis. "Popular Social Media Sites 'harm Young People's Mental Health'." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 18 May 2017. Web. 20 May 2017.
