Your opinion on social media?

This is something I've been thinking about a lot recently.

I've never been much of a social media person, I have all the major networks (Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram) but I've kept my friends list to just people I care about rather than having 1,000+ people I barely know. I've mainly just used it for following pages I like, i.e viral videos, sports, cars, music, football etc..

Anyways, the more I think about it the more I realise social media is just a place where everyone tries to paint this magical picture of how their lives are so incredible by simply missing out everything that's not going so well in their lives.

The majority of people I know will post a picture of their driving test certificate but not tell anyone of how many times they failed for fear of being competed with or made out to be a bad driver.

The majority of people I know will tell everyone about their new job and not tell anyone when they lose their job for fear of being criticised.

I'm just as guilty of doing this as the next person. I've been in a car accident AND lost jobs in the past and didn't tell anyone for these exact reasons. I've become obsessed trying to fool people I don't care about that my life is better than it actually is. Which is why I'm deleting every social media account I own tomorrow (giving anyone who wants to remain in touch with me the chance to add my phone number so they can text me).

The people I'm closer to, I've told them about those things, and they would tell me if anything like that happened to them and they're the only people I need in my life. Everyone else is stuck in this cycle of "I'm going to tell you how good my life is but I don't want to tell you what's not good, and I know you feel the same about me, so we're good."

I think it's just human nature to want to feel like you're better than your peers, to point score, to post a story and get that satisfaction that people have seen your "success" and now I realise that's pretty messed up. Or maybe it's just me.

Any thoughts on this?

Would you guys consider YouTube as social media? A lot of YouTubers show the negative parts of their lives as well (mainly because those videos typically get a lot of views). Would you say that counts?

I have the basics as well - Snapchat and Instagram - and I do agree with your point about the ‘magical picture’ that people use on social media. I am definitely guilty of this. I think filters, especially on Snapchat, have heightened this as well. On the other hand, social media is great for inspiration and keeping in touch with friends, so I guess the problem is in finding a balance.

Well yeah, of course you want to look good in front of people. It is just natural.

This is something I've been thinking about a lot recently.

I've never been much of a social media person, I have all the major networks (Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram) but I've kept my friends list to just people I care about rather than having 1,000+ people I barely know. I've mainly just used it for following pages I like, i.e viral videos, sports, cars, music, football etc..

Anyways, the more I think about it the more I realise social media is just a place where everyone tries to paint this magical picture of how their lives are so incredible by simply missing out everything that's not going so well in their lives.

The majority of people I know will post a picture of their driving test certificate but not tell anyone of how many times they failed for fear of being competed with or made out to be a bad driver.

The majority of people I know will tell everyone about their new job and not tell anyone when they lose their job for fear of being criticised.

I'm just as guilty of doing this as the next person. I've been in a car accident AND lost jobs in the past and didn't tell anyone for these exact reasons. I've become obsessed trying to fool people I don't care about that my life is better than it actually is. Which is why I'm deleting every social media account I own tomorrow (giving anyone who wants to remain in touch with me the chance to add my phone number so they can text me).

The people I'm closer to, I've told them about those things, and they would tell me if anything like that happened to them and they're the only people I need in my life. Everyone else is stuck in this cycle of "I'm going to tell you how good my life is but I don't want to tell you what's not good, and I know you feel the same about me, so we're good."

I think it's just human nature to want to feel like you're better than your peers, to point score, to post a story and get that satisfaction that people have seen your "success" and now I realise that's pretty messed up. Or maybe it's just me.

Any thoughts on this?

But then, how do you feel about the people you follow on social media only uploading positive things about themselves to "look good"?