I was born in the spring of 1998. I don’t think I would’ve liked growing up in a different era. I grew up whilst technology was starting to really take off in terms of popularity and advancement.
I got to enjoy my childhood as a kid playing outside with my brother and the neighborhood kids. For my 13th birthday I got to enjoy my new iPhone 4s (had no clue how to use Siri). And the rest is history…
Social media obviously shifts our perspectives and sometimes our motives. My brother and I are two years apart (me being the oldest) and he has never cared about what other people have thought about him. I, on the other hand, have always cared SO much about what people thought of me. I’m 23 and I still wonder what STRANGERS think of me when I walk past (as if I’m that important or interesting to look at LOL).
If you haven’t guessed it already, my brother has never cared about social media. He has an instagram account that I made him in the eighth grade; it looks like a bot account and I don’t think he knows his login information. My career field is in social media and I personally use social media and care about how many likes I get on a post (it’s sad but at least i’m being honest). I’m getting to the point I swear.
The point is I believe social media has created this underlying pressure of keeping up with the Joneses – but instead of it just being the Joneses, it’s everyone on your Instagram feed. Ultimately social media created a world where no one feels like they’re good enough or successful enough, whether it was intended or not, that’s the world we live in. I know I’m not saying anything pro-founding or remotely original, but I can’t help but think that being off the grid (Instagram) is the solution to our comparison issues and the feeling of being inadequate.
Growing up in a small town, everyone’s goal is to get out of the small town. It adds this silent judgement to whoever didn’t get out or who went away and came back. Almost like that’s the definition of success, is to move away from our small town.
Literally people who are from this town have casted judgement (on TWITTER) towards the people who move back after college. So when I moved back home after college, I felt like a failure and a loser who was stuck in this sad town. My brother is oblivious to this theory and would probably tell me I was stupid for caring what people from our hometown said on Twitter. If I didn’t have social media I wonder if I would feel different about moving back home. Maybe I wouldn’t feel less than or a failure.
You know, back in the day, no one knew what anyone was doing with their life, unless you kept in touch with them. There wasn’t this nagging sense of posting cool things for people to see. I bet no one cared if you lived at home after college, or just never moved away in the first place. Because there was no platform for you to say, “Hey!!! Look at how interesting my life is and how successful I am because I moved away from my hometown!!!”
I say that to say this: imagine not having the unsolicited pressure of proving yourself or your success to all of your social media followers. It actually sounds so stupid now that I’ve written it down, but isn’t that an accurate feeling towards social media? Everyone posts their highlights and wins on social media, and when you see someone else (especially the people your age or younger) succeed , you think you’re behind or not doing something right.
We should live our lives the way we want to. We should do things that makes us happy instead of caring what our followers will think of it. We should live like there’s no obligation to update people on what we’re doing (because there’s not). In the end, no one is worried about you or what you’re doing because they are too busy worrying about themselves.
Living life knowing that people don’t really think nor care about every step you’re taking is revitalizing. Let’s stop taking life so seriously and stop bullying each other online. Do what you want (if it doesn’t hurt yourself or others), post that picture, eat that brownie, call that someone, or don’t. Life is short and the ending is inevitable so you might as well take risks and enjoy life.
Her Twenties 
Leave a comment