I’m sure everyone has talked about, maybe in school discussions, how our lives are vastly different with social media in them. I have begun to think of little things that girls may feel are important but in the long run, don’t really matter. My boyfriend and I got into a conversation about how things such as stalking friends or significant others’ location can start unnecessary drama. We don’t have each other’s location, which we realized has created trust for us. A lot of my friends in my high school had parents who used Life360 and would constantly stalk them. They would often feel frustrated with their parents constantly looking at where they were. Honestly, the ones with parents who stalked them 24/7 were the ones who would sneak out more and find ways to fake their location.
Snapchat also has a feature that, if you have your location on, it shows how many minutes ago you were active on the app. I even find myself checking my friends, to see if they were active and either ignoring my text or did not see it. If you think about it, why does it matter if they saw your text or not? These little things can cause unnecessary stress.
Feeling the need to post Instagram pictures. Why is it that, after a social event, we feel the need to show the world what we were doing? I feel that there is a constant pressure for girls to show that they are “interesting” or “having fun” by sharing photos online. Even crafting an actual post on Instagram is somehow stressful. When picking which pictures to post I’ve found myself asking others’ opinions and seeing if I look “weird” in the picture. Apps like this are supposed to be silly and fun but have turned into social pressure that creates anxiety and stress. Sometimes, even seeing other people’s photos makes others feel like they should be partying or wearing cute outfits like the other girls who posted the photos. When you actually think about the importance of these things in social media, they don’t really add value to our lives. If you’re worrying about what to post, think: will this matter in 10 years? Or even in 1 year? I think we need to live more in the moment rather than online.