As an Odyssey creator, I naturally spend a whole lot of time on social media. I’m not Insta famous or anything, but I have a decent following on my articles and I promote them through Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and Facebook. You know, the works. I am very in tune with social media, but I also know that you there is so much more to life than what we post online.

I’ve always thought that social media was a really cool way of bringing people together. I still think it is. I reconnected with my long lost elementary school best friend after moving away when I was in high school because of Facebook and now we’re still friends to this day. Social media can be a really positive thing. I personally love that I get to share my writing over social media because that’s something I’m really passionate about.

My boyfriend is the total opposite of me when it comes to social media. He doesn’t have an Instagram, Twitter, or even a Facebook. All he has is Snapchat, but he (like everyone else) hates the new update so he really doesn’t even use Snapchat.

One of the reasons that my boyfriend stopped using Instagram was because he would text people about the photos they posted online trying to make conversation, and then they would be offended he hadn’t liked or commented on that photo. I think that so many people just use social media to fill a void or place their self-worth in the number of likes they get on Instagram and how many followers they have.

That is where we have a problem in our culture.

Social media is supposed to help us connect with one another beyond the pictures on our screen. We’re supposed to actually talk to each other about the things that are happening in our lives instead of just relying solely on Instagram to fill us in. However, because we place so much value on our social media following, it’s easy to neglect actual meaningful relationships and just focus on the likes on the photos.

It's also easy to get down on ourselves when our latest pic doesn't get as many likes as we expected.

My friend recently started her own Instagram project that I think is super cool. She’s basically turned her Instagram into her own little art project where she posts whatever photos she wants whenever she wants and completely disregards the likes. This is kind of a win for me because since she has her theme broken down by rows on her feed, I got three birthday posts to match that theme. Anyways, she says it’s so freeing to do Instagram just for herself and not with the goal of getting likes and follows.

I do think it's OK to put effort into posting cool and interesting photos on Instagram. I mean, I'm totally guilty of it. However, like my friend, I think of my Instagram as more of an art project. Just make sure your social media accounts don't start to rule over your life.

You are worth so much more than even 10 million likes on a picture. Just remember that.

Social media is wonderful. I love social media, but it can be toxic too. Placing your self-worth in likes is a dangerous game. Skipping actual conversations with people about their lives isn’t OK, even if you already saw what they did last weekend on Facebook. People don’t post everything online. It’s a highlight reel. Having genuine conversations with people even when you follow them on Instagram is everything. Your friends are more than liking machines, so take interest in each other's lives beyond commenting the flames emoji on their beach pics from spring break.