Sometimes, it feels like the only goal of social media is to make you feel terrible about your life. At some time or another, we’ve all been there: sitting on the couch, watching re-runs of Friends, stuffing our faces with Doritos and scrolling through Instagram seeing all the awesome things your friends are doing, instead of you. From candidly laughing on a beach next to their hot boyfriend with abs, to twerking on a cactus in Arizona, our friends slowly make us feel like we’re doing absolutely nothing with our lives, one photo at a time. You might have rolled your eyes at annoyance or even cried due to a severe case of FOMO.
I thought social media was supposed to be fun? Instead, it’s turned into a way to gloat about what you’re doing and beg for your friends’ approval. “Hey I just insta-ed, go like my pic.” You’re just lying to yourself if you’ve never said that to your friend.
I average about 20 likes on my pictures on Instagram, but every time I post a picture of my dog, I get about 60 likes. Yes, he is 80 pounds of wrinkly adorableness when he is sleeping in my laundry basket, but why does he get so many more likes than my awkward selfie? Clearly, my friends are trying to tell me that they like my dog better than me. Right? There is no other conclusion. Thanks, friends.
Maybe I’m not playing the social media game correctly? Some people put up a picture and within 13 minutes they have over 30 likes. Give it a day and there are over 150 likes. There is no way that many people like your new manicure, car or sushi roll. How do they do it?! How do people get so many likes on their photos? Do they have more friends than I do? Do people like them better than me? Is their life better than mine?
Whatever the reason, from time to time, social media can make us feel like our lives suck. We’re all secretly playing this “my Instagram is better than yours” game and, let’s face it, some people are just better at it. You can cry about it or you can simply click "like" and move on with your life. Me? I’m just going to keep instagramming my dog.
