5 Ways Social Media Is Making Everyone Hate Their Lives

It’s no secret that technology has greatly evolved and continues to progress more and more each year. Now more than ever, social media has transformed into pure competition. If we aren’t in constant competition when it comes to our bodies, we are in constant competition about where we are at and what we are doing. There are apps that allow us to edit our pictures and create a false image of ourselves, there are apps that allow us to purchase ‘likes’ and followers on our social media accounts, and there are apps that simply just encourage us to be people we aren’t.

Social media has a lot of perks, it does. Social media allows us to connect with people that we love but that are also long distance. Social media allows us to maintain a job a lot of the time, it allows us to make a living. Social media grants us a lot of advantages, but the effects it has had on our self-esteem is something worth looking at.

Here are five ways that social media is making everyone hate their lives, and how to prevent yourself from becoming one of those people:

1. We are constantly comparing, shaming, and feeling uncomfortable in the bodies that we have because we spend so much time looking at what we wish we looked like 

Unfollow every single account that makes you start to believe there is something wrong with you. Unfollow every single account that makes you question your own unique beauty.

2. There is pressure to be likable. People typically post and write what they feel the majority will ‘approve of,’ rather than what that they actually want to say/post 

Despite your discomfort, practice using your authentic voice. There’s a difference between living through your authenticity and living through what you think other people perceive as authentic.

3. We actually think that perfection is real and attainable  

Be aware of what you are looking at. Photoshop is real. Fake lashes are a thing. Hair extensions are a thing. Makeup is a thing. Implants are a thing. Cosmetic surgery is more common than you think. Remember that just because you see something online, doesn’t mean it’s someone’s reality.

4. We dumb down our emotions so that we don’t come across as overly emotional, needy, or annoying 

People post the highlights of their life. People rarely share when they are having an anxiety attack, when they are feeling rejected, or when they are heartbroken. Social media enables us to be less in tune with how we really feel, simply because we have a preconceived idea of what’s acceptable to feel in the first place.

5. We become more focused on our phone screens than the life we are living right this moment 

In order to fully enjoy this life we have right in front of us, we have to practice mindfulness. We have to be here. Right now. We have to set boundaries with our phones sometimes. We have to limit ourselves.