Social media are increasingly influencing our everyday lives. Young people in particular can no longer imagine a world without Facebook & Co. Naomi Stieglmaier writes about the disadvantages of the virtual world.
Social media – an indispensable part of most teenagers today. I am one of them. However, I often notice how bad these actually are for me. Still, I find it hard to get away from it. A problem that many young people seem to have today.
Sure, social media offer a platform for communication and exchange. It’s easy to keep in touch with friends, and companies quickly expand their reach. But for individual people, Instagram & Co can bring more suffering than joy.
How many likes do I have, how many comments, how many people see my posts? Questions that young people ask themselves as soon as they upload a picture. But what does that do for me? Most of us want attention, virtual love, and encouragement. They achieve this by taking unrealistic photos, making pimples disappear with Photoshop and posting their oh-so-great life. And that’s because we emulate superstars like Kylie Jenner or Kim Kardashian.
When I’m on vacation, I take hundreds of photos a day. Then I can post it on Instagram with a nice filter. Most of the people who see these don’t even know me, but what the heck. Do I ever look at these photos again? Most likely not. I missed the real moment because of it.
Fortunately, I was allowed to spend most of my childhood without social media. It is not without reason that depression among adolescents has more than doubled since 2005. We see perfect people with perfect lives every day. But we will never be able to achieve this ideal, which is frustrating.
The influencer’s perfect life, flawless. But their lives are not perfect either, they too have problems and fears. And it’s totally okay not to experience something extraordinary every day. It’s okay with no makeup to lie on the sofa in sweatpants and eat chocolate all day. And it’s okay not to have a washboard abs, love handles are normal.
For my part, I don’t want social media to control my life. Meanwhile I long for the time without a cell phone. Back when it wasn’t about posting a cool photo, but simply about spending time together and having fun.
The best days are usually those when I leave my cell phone in my handbag.
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