Tells joke. Seeks laughter. Smiles at stranger. Seeks smile back.

Voices opinion. Seeks agreement. Achieves goals. Seeks applause.

Posts attractive photo on social media. Seeks likes and compliments.

This continuous cycle is what we all get trapped in, often with no escape. It’s something all human instinct ever wants, but should never become dependent upon. This cycle truly is exactly what it sounds like: becoming consumed and almost obsessed over the notion that validation is required from others in order to be “liked” or “accepted” in society. Just a heads up and a little synopsis about my personal opinion if you’re wondering, I could care less about anyone who doesn’t happen to be pleased by me. I’m positive I wasn’t born to be adored by everyone and honestly, there are some people in this world I would not want to be adored by. However, what really bothers me the most about this endless need for validation is the way it diffuses across social media, especially Instagram.

Okay, this is when I really begin my rant. Recently, one of my followers on Instagram, a student who graduated with me from high school sent me a very interesting DM. Basically, this is just a random chick I went to high school with, so I decided to accept her follow request on Instagram. Like any other Instagram user who describes their followers, I know of her, yet I have never ever ever spoken to her in person. Regardless, she decides to DM me in order to ask for, under her circumstances, a very critical favor which I quote— “please like my recent photo<3.”

Are you ******* kidding me?

No, seriously.

Please, please tell me this is a joke . . .

I don’t know what’s worse, feeling embarrassed for this girl, feeling humiliated that I am actually a part of this obviously, desperate generation, or feeling sad for myself that I had to envision the process of this girl deciding to type out her heart emoji as if we were back in Myspace days. Absolutely disgusting.

Regardless, this put me in an uncomfortable position and I do not understand the longing desire to have 100 likes on a single photo. No, I did not like the photo and that’s because I didn’t even look at her latest photo because honestly, I do not care. If I like your photo, congratulations. If I don’t like your photo, there is no indication that I like you any less. Quite frankly, the point I am trying to get across is that no one should think that the more likes you get or the more comments you receive, make you an even more better person. You just happen to have a lot of followers. Don’t be fooled by Instagram, there is no need to succumb to this cycle of seeking validation from others through trivial “likes,” “heart emojis” and “Facebook thumbs-ups.” If you post a photo, be accepting of yourself and lifestyle (even if most of your pictures are selfies with the duck face), not envious of others and competitive with what they seem to possess through social media. Most likely, they are NOT the fitness guru they aspire to be nor the Instagram model they attempt to be.