Social Media and Self Esteem

Hello my little porcupines!

In the midst of study plus exam week I thought I would shove in a blog post before I have way too much free time and forget to write out my sad and sensitive feelings again. I feel like I blog about myself too much so maybe I'll just talk about something else other than myself and my life is so boring and hasn't changed much at all.

First things first - social media. Social media is a marketing tool for businesses but it started out as a medium for people to interact with one another. I think when we think of social media these days the first thing that pops up is usually Facebook or Instagram and I think those two are predominantly two social media platforms in which I use the most. While Facebook is proper, professional and more for friends; Instagram is a platform in which I can explore and interact with people around the world and also show off my creative side which Facebook is lacking. I remember being so obsessed with my Myspsce profile as it was a way to show off my personality and artistic influences and tried to make it represent me. To summarise really - I probably spent way too much time editing my MySpace profile when I could've been doing something more productive.

Which reminds me of the Instagram model - Essena O'Neil - I think the main points she makes where social media is portraying a fake life and not everything is not as perfect as they want you to believe it to be are such valid points. How many times have I seen a photo on Instagram and been like 'I wish I had her life' 'I wish I had her body' 'I wish I had her hair and clothes' when in actuality they've been sponsored and their life isn't as perfect as the extent they made it out to be. However, I honestly draw the line and tell myself that that's her life and this is my life there's honestly no point in comparing and there is nothing I can do about it other than improving myself and striving towards my own goals. Where being social media famous is not one of them and putting myself out there for people to nitpick on my appearance is definitely not one of my goals. I already have enough anxiety over stepping out into the city with so many people around. I think the best thing we can ever do is to be a good person and be a good role model to whoever is looking up to us and don't validate yourself through a strangers opinion of you or how many numbers are behind your brand. It's honestly not worth the stress, effort and self esteem issues associated with it.