While I am guilty of thinking too hard over what to tweet or what picture to post, I think we need to remember that in the big picture none of that really matters. Everything these days seems to only be valid if it is praised by on social media. Our beauty is measured by how many likes we get on your latest picture on Instagram. How perfect our relationships are measured by how many people comment “#goals” on the picture of you and your significant other. How much fun you had this weekend is based on how many Snapchats you posted. We want everyone to have these ideas of who we are based on some elaborate post.

But what if all of that stuff got wiped away?

No more pictures that got over 100 likes, no more views on your Snapchat story, and no more retweets or followers. All you would have is yourself to rely on to show people who you are and to some people that is so scary because you don’t have a screen to hide behind. That’s the real problem in our society; we have grown so accustomed to post about something to get approval for how we are living our lives. But, when you post that 10 second crafted Snapchat, people aren’t seeing all of the other seconds that show what your life really is like. When you post that selfie you spent hours editing, people aren’t seeing who you are on the inside. When you tweet about the awesome weekend you had, people aren’t seeing how your spent your weekdays. I understand people will judge who you are based on what you post, but you can’t let it define you. You also can’t let other people’s post have such an effect on your life. If you see a tweet that offends you, don’t look at it. If you see a picture of someone you don’t like, don’t look at it. If it is negatively impacting you, don’t surround yourself with it. You can’t take it too seriously because it can all be easily avoided by clicking out of an app and looking at something positive that is right in front of you. If we put as much effort into connecting with people in person as we do on what we post on social media our relationships with one another would be way more meaningful than a like or retweet. Focus on bettering the life you are living and embracing the people you have in your life.