Social media is not real life. That sentence probably won’t come as a shock to any of you, but it is important for me to remember it whenever I log in to Facebook or Instagram and see images and posts of people purporting to be having the time of their lives, thus making me feel like my life simply doesn’t compare. Now, I’m in no way a grinch who bemoans people enjoying themselves. With such an unpredictable and downright scary world, it’s arguably never been more important to have fun.
But regular social media usage could lead one to arrive at the conclusion that everybody else is having all the fun, and this is simply not the case. Broadly speaking, we only share things that we want others to see. That could be a holiday photo, a loved-up romantic selfie, a new job or car, whatever. But these are mere snapshots in time, hand-picked moments of happiness during what could be, in reality, a pretty turbulent time in that person’s life.
I’d be the first to admit that I can, at times, share a little too much of what’s going on in my life - my worst days can be broadcast through Facebook and Twitter as much as my best days. Maybe this is a bad thing - you never know who could be gaining pleasure at seeing your struggles, and a simple direct message is always preferable to a timeline rant. However, I tend to form the (possibly inaccurate) view that those to whom I’m connected on my social channels are understanding and supportive. There’s probably a Bitter Betty or Nosey Natalie out there who jumps for joy at my oft-broadcast misfortunes, but that probably says more about them than it does me.
The world of social media has without doubt changed and evolved exponentially over the years, as has how we use it. Originally devised as a way to keep in touch with friends and family members, it seems the world and his wife now has at least one social media account. Numbskulls can create anonymous accounts to hurl abuse at celebrities, and that very much represents the digital age at its worst. Ditto online stalking and vile threats of violence. People simply would not communicate with strangers in real life the way being behind a keyboard allows them to with anonymity-driven impunity.
Instagram is perhaps one of the worst offenders when it comes to the disparity of online life versus real life. Endless edited photos of apparently blemish-free and beautiful people abound, making it like a 21st century equivalent of something like Baywatch. Nowhere is this illustrated more seriously and sadly than the tragic case of Molly Russell, who tragically took her own life at the age of 14 after viewing harmful, suicide- and self harm-related content on social media. The coroner into her death said that such content had “likely” contributed to the teenager’s death.
It’s important to remember that social media isn’t all bad, though. It helps forge, maintain and strengthen connections; it offers plenty of self-help guides on all manner of topics; and sometimes seeing what someone’s had for dinner does no harm at all in a world full of sinister and scary events. Unless they've had pineapple with pizza, of course. But don’t - don’t - compare your real life with others’ online lives, for it is often not an accurate representation of how things are for them.
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