With today’s generation being so heavily social media focused, I think it is very easy for our realities to shift and flux frequently. Take Instagram for example- people work tirelessly to create a “perfect” feed, only sharing the best, most picturesque moments of their life. Especially with the growing popularity of “influencers”, people compare their own normal lives to these seemingly flawless individuals, and for many young people, this causes a detrimental psychological effect. Similar to the Black Mirror episode of “Nosedive”, you can feel inadequate if you don’t purchase the same artisanal lattes, go out to some artsy event on the weekends, and attend all of the high-priced music festivals. I think this trend is even more amplified in NYC, given that there are so many individuals with wealth and status. It makes it nearly impossible for the average young person to keep up, and in turn, it can be really easy to feel down about yourself or that you’re not equal to the crowd.
The term “FOMO” (fear of missing out) was coined to sum up this very feeling of being inadequate and fearful of not meeting these unrealistic societal standards. The reality is that all of these “influencers” and “perfect” Instagram feeds are rarely all they’re cracked up to be and in fact, not glamourous at all. These individuals project a lifestyle that looks good on their feed, but in reality, they’re just real people with human struggles just like the rest of us. But, it’s hard not to hold yourself to these standards and worry as to why you don’t look like these individuals or live the extravagant lives they do. They make it look so easy to be the life of the party and have something new and exciting happen each and every day. It is really unfortunate that so many fall into the rabbit hole of comparing themselves to these fake profiles and I hope that in the near future there is a shift of positivity on social media instead of jealousy and self-doubt.
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