It’s Sunday evening, I’m sitting in my comfies, hair tied up, no makeup on. I scroll through smiling pic after smiling pic. Flawless makeup after flawless makeup. Perfectly styled outfit after perfectly styled outfit. Someone having a great time followed by someone having an even better time.
Social media is a great place. It’s a place where we can speak with likeminded individuals, showcase our creativity and enjoy a world we’ve created for ourselves.
But at the same time, social media can be so damaging. It can make you feel like you’re not good enough or that your not doing enough or not having enough fun.
Scrolling through endless streams of people highlighting their best life can change things. Of course we try our best not to compare ourselves to others online. Of course we tell ourselves that it’s just a highlights reel and that we don’t see what’s going on behind closed doors. But seeing so many people living their best lives can make you question yours. When you’re watching Netflix in bed at 8 on a Saturday, while your feed is full of people partying, drinking and having a good time.
Recently I started really thinking about how social media affects what we constitute as a ‘good time’, how it makes us question whether we are having a good enough time and how we are showcasing our best life.
You see, recently I found myself stuck in the rut of comparing yourself online. I saw a party I wasn’t attending and felt serious FOMO- and you know the funny thing? When speaking to friends who attended the party, they told me about what a bust it was. They said it was awkward, a bit flat and most of them left before midnight. Yet on social media, it appeared like everyone was having the BEST time- all smiling and posing for the camera.
Social media has a funny way of twisting things. It makes things boring seem like fun and it makes your version of fun seem alien to so many people.
So the next time you log onto social media and question whether you’re having as much fun as the person smiling behind the camera, just remind yourself that your version of fun is your own and just because someone’s showcasing their ‘best life’ online doesn’t mean they’re having more fun than you.
