The ugly truth behind Social Media

It's so easy to compare your life to the incredibly 'perfect' ones you see on Social Media. The truth is that nobody is happy all the time. Everyone feels upset, angry and disappointed at times and that's just what makes us human. 



We display the 'best' versions of ourselves on Social Media whether that's celebrating our achievements, posting selfies where we're feeling particularly good about ourselves or simply just listing all the incredible thing's we've done that day. It's rare that anybody shows the 'behind-the-scenes' of their lives and this is where I think the quote by Steve Furtick fits in. 

'  "The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel"  ' - Steve Furtick

Imagine getting ready to board the plane to the Caribbean and posting a photo like this:



Little does everyone know, you spilt coffee all down your jumper, you've got bloodshot eyes from waking up at 2:00am so you don't miss your flight and you've just finished throwing clothes away from over-packing your suitcase. But of course nobody would know that because everyone want's to show their life in an ideal light.

There's nothing wrong with doing this at all, I admit that I do this as well but what's important to note is that we shouldn't compare ourselves to what we see on the internet.
I can't even deny that I spend hours scrolling through my newsfeed dwelling over the fact that my reality isn't as good as someone else's perfectly Instagram-able life. Believe it or not, so many people do it but I bet if you walked down the street there would be someone wishing they looked like you.

It's sad to say that Social Media has created jealousy over relationships and lifestyles that most likely don't even exist. Social Media is much like a canvas, in which we can choose to portray our lives however we'd like to. It makes us believe that we have to look a certain way and live a certain lifestyle. 

How many of you have taken over 20 selfies but ended up deleting 19 of them because they weren't 'Instagram worthy'? 

Now don't get me wrong, Instagram and Twitter have opened me up to so many people and created relationships that I never thought I'd have but it's important to understand just how damaging Social Media can be to our lives.


Social Media is not real life.


Comments

  1. Interesting. I myself only post the good and happy photos (they are not even instagram-worthy). I draw a line between private life and piblic life. Our private life is nobody's business and no need to tell everybody our garbage. I rarely take selfies. I agree with you. Social media has created jealousy among people and set a certain standard. It's sad the world has become. Thanks for sharing this. Very insightful.

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    1. Thank you for reading! Yes, there definitely has to be a balance between social media and reality.

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  2. i really enjoyed reading this- its so easy to pretend that everything is perfect on social media and to compare yourself to others. Ive tried making sure i give myself time out of social media recently because of this!

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    1. Thank you so much!
      Yes, it's important to take a break every now and then :)

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  3. This post is so interesting X I do agree that social media does make you jealous of other aand sometimes I need to separate whats real life orthe social media life.
    Sarah x www.hellochappes.blogspot.co.uk xx

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  4. I have to remind myself this every single day! I live instagram but I hate it too! Great post!

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    1. I agree with you, I have a love hate relationship with social media :)

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  5. So agree. There are a few times I just look at accounts as everything is just so perfect, I have to remind myself it can not be that good always 😂

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    1. A lot of the things you see on social media aren't always what they seem to be :)
      Thank you for reading!

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  6. I have such an awful relationship with social media and comparing myself to others. I know how bad it is but it's so difficult not to in this age of "perfection". But to be entirely honest, I like seeing people's "real" side on SM. Their real photos, not ones which have been posed for and edited to within an inch of its life.

    Jenny
    http://www.jennyinneverland.com

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    1. I agree! Not many people post their 'real side' on to social media though :(

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  7. I love this, I enjoy social media but I agree sometimes you can feel so low in comparison to some of the people you see on there. Couldn’t agree more with the deleting photos because they’re not ‘insta worthy’ and that’s actually sad when you think about it! Great post darl xx

    Jessica xx
    www.thoughtsofjessica.com

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  8. I think social media is a good thing in moderation, as long as we remember that it doesn't always represent real life. Great post xx

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    1. Yeah it does have a lot of benefits but yes it doesn't represent real life most of the time! xx

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  9. I think you just have to remember that everyone else also only posts the good bits on social media. Otherwise you'd just drive yourself crazy with jealousy!

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  10. It is very refreshing to read this as it is so very true.

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  11. I love this post Lauren! I think we all sink into wishing we were perfect like our favorite people on Instagram.

    A Sparkle Of Grace

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  12. Eye opening post, I agree. People be posting their highlight reels of their life. Depressing to only scroll through that if you compare yourself to those snap shots

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  13. Amazing post! I feel like we all need to constantly be reminded of this. Although I try my hardest not to to get sucked in to the cycle of comparison, I sometime so struggle with it just like we all do! I love that quote aswell, just a great reminder!��

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  14. I loved reading this post! Its important to remind ourselves of this daily! xx

    Jamie | www.jamies-corner.com

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  15. Love this post and I think it's important to remember this. Social media plays a massive part in people's lives now but we should never compare as people are unique and beautiful in their own way!

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  16. So very true...

    And for this reason I try to be incredibly transparent with my social media posting. I don't always have makeup on for a photo and maybe the bathroom lighting isn't the most ideal for that outfit shot. While I like to share my successes, I'm not shy about posting the things that are worrying me either.

    I really just want to be an authentic presence and I hope more people are inspired to do the same. :)


    On The Cusp | https://on-th3-cusp.blogspot.com/

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