Instagram is actually fucked. So is pretty much all social media for that matter. We're all such vivid consumers of social media that we often don't stop to think about the impact it's had on our lives. Each day we wake up, scroll through Instagram, see how many likes our latest photo got, check messages and then maybe we get out of bed only to check our phone again while munching on a thin slice of slightly burnt toast. Has anyone ever stop to think that the more we share online, the less we grow?
Scroll through your Instagram feed and you'll notice a common theme, stick thin girls promoting the latest fad weight loss trend or teeth whitening kit. I didn't even know how much it was affecting our younger generation as much as it us until I was with my younger cousins and their friends one day and I saw that they already had Instagram and were following these types of girls. My younger cousins and their friends are 11 years old. Imagine growing up with these images bleeding into your brain on a daily basis. Influential women unknowingly promoting an unhealthy message to your younger girls.
Don't get me wrong, Instagram can be used as such a great tool. It can be a means for communication, inspiration and growing your business. It's great that people are growing and creating careers in what they love. I mean, I love scrolling through Instagram looking for outfit inspiration. But I think we need to be more diligent about the message we're displaying on social media. Growing up as a girl is already hard enough without the added pressure to look perfect on all fronts of social media. A study has recently come out that shows how Instagram is fuelling a mental health crisis. The chief executive of the study has stated "social media has been described as more addictive than cigarettes and alcohol, and is now so entrenched in the lives of young people that it is no longer possible to ignore it when talking about young people's mental health issues."
I think the most important thing to remember is that what people post on Instagram is an edited version of their lives, a sugar-coated reality. A short glimpse into a pre-conceived altered state of being. What people are posting on social media isn't always what's really happening. And it's so important that we show our younger generation that social media isn't all it's made up to be.
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