The Unedited Truth About Millennials And Social Media Addiction

Millennials like myself want it all now, the money, designer clothes, the job that pays for full time travel and the perfect relationship.

Our elders say it’s a pipe dream but we have the proof on social media, people really have these lifestyles and they’ve become our inspiration.

We see the peak of the mountain from the base but we don’t want to climb it, we want a helicopter straight to the top.

The brutal truth is that life rarely works that way, people at the top usually worked hard to get there.

The social media highlight reel shows ‘perfection’, what it doesn’t show is the blood sweat and tears behind the scenes that people endured to get there.

Not only are millennials aspiring to be like the ideals, we also play the comparison game which is a losing battle, especially when comparing our behind the scenes to ‘their’ highlights.

Having a following higher than the average, If you scroll through my Instagram feed here’s what you’ll see:

I’m travelling non-stop. My hair and makeup is always done, I have a different outfit on in every photo, I’m always happy and having fun and I don’t work I just spend money and look pretty for photos.

Here’s the reality:

I’m mostly posting photos from previous trips/shoots. I use filters to enhance my looks, I have bad days, I’m constantly going to castings and I work every day on my business. I buy and sell my clothes to recycle and I’m not a rich kid, it’s really not as glam as it looks.

False advertising?

Hardly, this is what social media is, showing your best bits to the world. The only false thing about it is that we set up unrealistic goals in our minds based on these highlights and naturally we fall short in comparison.

Whoops there goes a withdrawal from the self-worth account.

Social media is a large part of our lives, the average person in the US spends 2 hours per day on social media, over a lifetime that’s estimated at 5 years and 4 months looking at other peoples lives.

I’d say it’s an addiction and we all need our daily fix. I hope this article brings to light that social media shouldn’t be taken personally and or too seriously. Be in competition only with yourself and get on your boots to start climbing your mountain.