I will never tire of analyzing the psychology of our human obsession (often even against our own will) with social media. I find it absolutely intriguing in every way. The fact that we’re over a decade into having daily, unregulated access to this alternate universe of living and that it’s gaining more momentum and growth with every passing year certainly is a cause for study and conversation.
Thankfully, I was at the grown and mature(ish) age of 26 before I took the plunge into Instagram. I have been on Facebook since I was about 20, but let’s be honest: Instagram has been and is the true beast.
It’s the one that started innocently enough with sharing our juvenile, “creative” attempts at art shots of our dinner and capturing weekend memories with your “besties” but eventually morphed into the nucleus of every brand’s marketing strategy, the source of most young people’s confidence and self-esteem, and 2024’s metaphorical house of worship—influencing impressionable young minds in every aspect of life that matters.
That said, I’d like to focus on one aspect of our relationship with social media that I’ve been curious about. Having intentionally taken almost a year off social media in 2023, I had the opportunity to test this question and theory (although I wasn’t aware I was doing so at the time). I’m sure many besides me have thought of this question already, and the answer may be evident to most, so forgive me if it’s an amateur one.
The question is – does capturing moments of our lives and posting them on social media for all of our nearest and dearest, and in many cases, a much wider audience, make us like, enjoy, and appreciate our own lives that much more? I’m not talking about the perceived validation of “likes” or views or receiving feedback from any external source.
I think, does capturing a scene that we are living, editing it, posting it, and then viewing it through this romanticized lens change our mindsets towards our own lives?
I ask this because I’ve experienced being on vacation, both pre-social media and post-social media. I remember a certain European vacation POST social media and how it wasn’t exactly thrilling me anymore once I was about halfway into the trip. The people I was with were growing a bit weary of each other, things were far more expensive than we expected, it was hot, and we still had about ten days to go before we were back home.
But the pictures, ahh, the pictures! Scrolling through my Instagram feed even while on the trip put me in a better mood. The European backdrops, the outfits, the smiles… It all just does something for you. Mind you, this was almost a decade ago, when social media and international travel were fairly new. The ability of filters to make your life look magazine-worthy is unmatched. I remember coming home from said trip and looking at those pictures for weeks, recalling those memories as being far happier than I was.
In any case, the answer to today’s question, posed by the title of this article, if answered from only my perspective, is yes. I do think that posting our lives on social media may add a level of enjoyment and appreciation that may not exist if social media did not exist.
I’m not saying it’s good or healthy or something I’m recommending. It’s simply a call to bring self-awareness as to why we are drawn to photographing, editing, posting, and analyzing personal life moments that we were perfectly content with letting go of as soon as they happened less than 15 years ago.
Exploring our creativity, sharing beautiful moments with loved ones who live far away, or capturing moments simply for the sentimental feeling of adding to your personal storybook are also valid and exemplary reasons to maintain our relationships with social media and the internet. It’s simply the habitual, unconscious human instincts that we need to keep tabs on.
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Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I hope what you have read has somehow educated, informed, or inspired you.
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