I started college about two weeks ago. I was wide-eyed and ready to take on the world. I was ready to make new friends, learn an immense amount, and have the absolute time of my life. I'll admit- I stalked friends and acquaintances who had already been at my University. I couldn't wait to be just like them.
What I've found is that college, like all aspects of life, is radically different in reality than it is online. But it's important to emphasize that this kind of phenomenon is inevitable. No one wants to talk about their failures/struggles in the same way that no one wants to post them online for hundreds of followers to see. So we post what we are proud of: the new friends we made on our floor, our bid day picks, and that giant party we attend with some of our new friends.
What we don't post about is the breakdown we have over our microeconomics class. We won't post about the homesickness we might feel one weekend when there isn't much going on around campus. We don't want our fellow collegiates to see that aspect of our lives. We want them to see the happiness and growth that is typically associated with the college experience.
There is nothing wrong with posting about the good events in our life. But the truth remains that social media can be detrimental to fellow college students who are struggling with depression, anxiety, or simply feeling lonely. Take the case of Madison Holleran, for example. She was a UPenn freshman who, throughout her short life, excelled at nearly everything. She was a track star in high school who was smart, beautiful, and popular. But once she got to UPenn in the fall of 2013, she began struggling greatly. The demands of track, school, and a thriving social life all began to weigh her down. And Madison was notorious for constantly checking her social media profiles, like Instagram. She became overwhelmed when she noticed how much fun her friends seemed to be having in comparison to herself.
But if you take a scroll through Madison's Instagram (@maddyholleran), which has been eerily quiet since early 2014, you'll find a story radically different than what Madison was actually experiencing. She looks as happy as ever, posing with her friends at social events and living the dream at college. But it just wasn't the case. Mere hours after her last post of Rittenhouse Square at dusk, Madison took a running leap from the ninth floor of a parking garage in Philadelphia and died instantly.
Madison was a struggling freshman who battled depression after having it all throughout her entire high school career. She felt incredibly pressured by the false image that social media put on. She based her entire life in college off of the highlight reel of her friends and their experiences. And that's why it is so important that, in an age of growing technology and communication, we continue to be able to distinguish social media from real life. Being unable to do so is damaging to the mental, physical, and emotional health of college students.
