The Pressure of Being Perfect

SRINIDHI VANGALA – With the advent of social media, anyone can present themselves as a perfect model, “relationship goals”, or otherwise influence their public image to meet society’s standards of an admirable person. The sense of community and validation from followers can help people gain a sense of confidence and friends through Instagram, Twitter, even Facebook.This aspect  of social media is what helps us think that.These networks are an excellent way to stay in touch with people you may not see as often as you used to, and they can even serve as a platform to strengthen connections to mutual friends or acquaintances from the comfort of a computer screen.

However, the implicit competition of social media to project a more attractive public image of themselves can lead to unexpected consequences and even self-destructive behaviors. It may encourage people to live unauthentic lives;I’ve definitely been guilty of posting content that only presented the positive aspects of my life during my fall semester, a time when the transition into college life wasn’t going nearly as well as one may have inferred from my page.. Social media users curate their virtual reputation to display only the most refined and envy-worthy moments of the imperfect lives they share with all humans.. Avid “influencers” can spend hours editing pictures for Instagram, creating the perfect Snapchat Story, and drafting unending Facebook posts about their latest achievements. Achievements and accolades are emphasized   far beyond their original impact, and failures are often entirely absent.

Younger children may see this kind of behavior from older friends, peers, or family and form a false notion of what it means to be “grown up”. The airbrushed qualities of social media timelines redefines what is acceptable as “normal” . As a result of this, we’re left questioning whether or not we’re doing things right when we can’t meet the expectations of others’ lives on social media.

This kind of culture encourages a broken idea of growing up. There is an immense pressure to be more mature, look older, and generally have everything figured out faster. Social media and the illusion of “perfect” lives have contributed heavily to this artificial status quo. We reach certain points in our lives, like college or high school, and a lot of the time our only examples of who to be are those who have come before us, and what they’ve decided to show us is “normal” on social media.

I leave you with this.

Laugh at people falling down in the snow, chase bugs, tell your friends and family you love them, listen to whatever music you want, wear whatever you want, don’t worry about your life or relationship looking perfect or exciting to other people. Life is too short to try and grow up faster than we already do, be authentic in your experiences and you’ll be happier for it.Where we are right now is exactly where we need to be and there isn’t any point trying to rush it.

Copy Editor: Vetri Maduraiveeran

Photography Source: Shweta Mistry