All those perfect beach bodies, happy smiles, superfoods and exotic locations can totally drive you crazy if your life is, well, normal. But is the happy world of Instagram all it’s cut out to be? Don’t believe the hype.
- You’re only seeing what people want you to see. Nobody’s life is perfect, but people aren’t going to upload pictures of them sitting alone at home in their sweatpants crying into a tub of ice cream. My Instagram account is full of magic and wonder and I’m sure yours is too. Does it mean this is what our life looks like all the time? Hell no. It’s just the happy face we choose to share with the world. Have a nice day!
- The best photos are posed and it takes forever to get them right. I once sat and watched a friend spend half an hour in an attempt to take a single natural-looking selfie. This was after having spent well over an hour getting her look together and doing her makeup. The result looked really good. I’m sure her Instagram followers all thought she just fell out of bed and snapped this winning shot, but that’s basically a total lie.
- There’s no such thing as effortlessly cool. Every single photo you see on Instagram is consciously framed by someone to look awesome. All those hot babes looking perfect have spent ages perfecting that look and getting everything just right. We get depressed because we’re only seeing other people’s showreel yet we’re constantly privy to our own bloopers. Oh, what I’d give to get a glimpse of other people’s blooper reels! I’m sure they’re full of hundreds of the same sort of shitty pictures we take before we get anything right.
- There are some accounts that will show you the real deal. There are some women who recreate celebrity shots as a comedy thing to show you what real life is actually like. There are also some models confident enough to show you photos with no filter and no makeup, as well as those that show you posed, photoshopped shots next to more realistic ones. If you go digging, you’ll soon find that Instagram is basically an industry of lies we all buy into.
- The more time you spend on social media, the more your own life is going to suck. I don’t know about you, but when I’m happy I don’t feel the need to spend all my time online uploading photos. I actually do stuff. On the other hand, when I’m feeling down, I want to make both myself and the world believe I’m feeling awesome. Behind every happy picture is a person with feelings. You can’t tell what those feelings actually are just by looking at the picture.
- A picture only shows you one part of the moment. As a photographer, even an amateur one, you can find and frame beauty in anything. A sunset can look beautiful in a photo even if the beach you’re standing on is polluted and filthy. Someone’s day can look like heaps of fun when you ignore the fact that they’re feeling dead inside. If you stopped to think about your own life right now, I’m sure you could also frame some beauty in it.
- Even celebrities get sad. It’s hard to look at Instagram sensations like Kylie Jenner without envying her life, but celebrities have whole armies of pros to make sure their social personal looks picture perfect. Who wouldn’t want a life of luxury and tropical beaches? I’m sure some of this show is real, but we never get to see behind the scenes and, more importantly, inside their heads. The reality of it is that most big celebrities end up depressed or addicted to booze and drugs. There’s a reason for that – it’s not all about diamonds, parties, and tropical beaches.
- It’s important to remember your own good times. Every life has both good times and bad times in it. Things change constantly. Even if you’re feeling low now, there’s nothing that says things won’t change for the better. Take a look at pics you uploaded that make your life look peachy and remember that every single person’s life has ups and downs. Constantly.
- It’s OK to cut down your social media time if it makes you feel like crap. Lots of people avoid social media when they feel depressed. Even if you consciously know that other people’s lives may not be as great as they seem, nobody wants to see holiday shots from exotic places when they’re broke and living in their parents’ basement. Just take a step back and do more productive stuff with your time so that you can get your own life back on track.
- You can create beauty in your own life too. That should always be your focus, not what other people are doing. One of the things that’s both awesome and awful about the Internet is how it shows us what people are doing all over the world. If you’re still trying to find your way in life or trying to develop some skills in something, there’s a fine line between inspiration and getting dejected cause there are people there who are so insanely good at it you think you’ll never catch up to them. Just keep doing your thing, look after yourself and worry about your own life. There are always going to be people who are better off than you, but by the same token, there will always be people who have it worse. It’s up to you what you choose to focus on.
