Social media over the past couple years has exploded. It has evolved from posting whatever and however you feel, to itching for a single like anywhere you can get one. That isn't and shouldn't be what social media's main goal is. Having just experienced my first year at college, I became aware of how intense social media can be and just how much it can influence a single individual.
I am very involved in social media, for I am always keeping up with the latest trends, apps and fashion. You name it, I follow it. However, that's what I use social media for. As soon as you start to use it as your main source of happiness, you stop caring for yourself and instead care for what everyone else thinks about you. However you want people to perceive you is fine, but make sure you're doing it for yourself as well. Don't be someone you're not just so a categorized group of people will find you interesting and decide to "like" what you post. Post things that you'll be happy getting either 300 likes on or three. Don't post things for likes, post them for yourself.
During college, people would constantly be on their phones trying to find the best angle to take a picture, only to edit them to the point of no recognition afterwards ... all while a party was going on in the background. Some people allow social media to take time away from their actual social lives. In ten years, nobody will remember how many likes you got on your Instagram photo, but they will remember that very party you ignored. Don't throw your life away just to have a successful picture, because that will spiral into a terrible habit that you don't want to have.
Social media is an amazing platform that advocates for so many opportunities for people to achieve. Here I am, lucky enough to have the opportunity to write for Odyssey. Many people can be discovered from social media, and can even make a career out of it. So much can come from this platform when you stop obsessing over your own profile.
This article isn't to persuade you to let go of social media entirely, but instead to start using it for how it should be used. Explore the opportunities it can give you and post whatever you want, because at the end of the day, your happiness is the only one that matters. Look at things from a different perspective and you'll start to notice how much more independent and happy you'll become. You are you with or without social media, remember that.
You shouldn't need to rely on likes to feel liked.
