Divya Joyce
www.mediaeyenews.com
Social media is happy, colourful, exciting, and energetic. But is it really like it looks? Or is it the filtered version of our lives?
Whatever we did, its likely we had our hands on social media today. It has become our other best friend. But do you share about your bad days, struggle, depression, heartbreaks, failure, insecurities on social media?
After 1 hour of scrolling through social media, we are all guilty of it– staring at all the pretty pictures and reading about our friends’ “glamorous” lives. But here’s the thing, roses have thorns. We only put the best parts of ourselves on display on social media. We only post the most flattering of pictures on Instagram. We only share the most gratifying updates on Facebook. All of those pretty pictures and glamourous facades are a mere piece of reality and failing to realise this can do tremendous harm to our mental health, as we fall into a little trap called the comparison game.
Social media has increasingly blurred the line between what is authentic and what is performance — even within ourselves. In just few months of using social media during lockdown, I saw myself comparing my life with others. I saw their adventurous trip, glamorous life, exotic food etc. This made me feel inadequate to fit in. But the truth is we only post good news and our filtered life. We don’t share the vulnerable part of lives – but we must acknowledge that these things make us human.
Is decluttering social media a solution? Social media is in almost every part of lives, it is inevitable. But we can spend intentional time on social media. We can find a way to stop our mindless scrolling. If you have an intention in mind, you’re less likely to get sucked into the black hole that social media can be. Pause and think before you post, share and follow; if this person or post will do good to you or will just make you feel bad about yourselves. And atlast don’t let any post, comments rule you. Be alert while you use social media.
