Photo by Berke Citak on Unsplash
While scrolling through Instagram, it’s easy to feel like everyone else is living the “perfect life.” One where they wake up at 6 a.m. to drink coffee with the sunrise like a flawless, curated reel they posted online. In reality, most people are simply trying to survive the day. The gap between social media and reality is growing, and it is changing the way we think about our own lives in comparison to those we see others living online.
The phrase “romanticizing your life” has slowly become known as a way to emphasize the small moments in life, or basically, make something seem better than it actually is.
Initially, “romanticizing your life” described a form of self-care and mindfulness, encouraging people to notice and appreciate life’s simple pleasures. Recently, however, the term is more commonly used to describe people trying to make their lives look more appealing on social media, often to gain likes on platforms like Instagram.
Today, Instagram has evolved from a place to share memories to a platform to present your life to society. As more and more young adults and teens are beginning to download the app, teenage girls are particularly drawn to the trend of romanticizing their lives. Whether that means taking aesthetic photos or going to viral photo-ops, the thought of making the perfect post has become common among young minds.
Although the thought of simply posting aesthetic photos online may seem harmless, the constant fear of not being “perfect” enough comes with real consequences.
Not only has the romanticization of lives on social media pushed more people to show a polished version of a “perfect life,” but it has also caused an increase in social media distortion among both content creators and individuals who post online for their own enjoyment. More emphasis is now on posting the positive aspects of their lives, rather than showing a full picture of both the challenges and joyful moments one may encounter.
Selective sharing and social media distortion can create unrealistic expectations for those scrolling online, making their own lives seem inferior and boring compared to the ones they view online. As a result, this can lead to anxiety and stress among frequent social media users as the constant comparisons only feed into their growing insecurities.
For content creators, the growing desire to make every moment aesthetically pleasing online starts to take over the experience itself, replacing genuine moments with staged and filtered photos just to capture the “right shot.”
As this mindset becomes more commonplace, many individuals are beginning to live their experiences through their lenses instead of enjoying the moments face-to-face. Times that were once filled with laughter and friends enjoying one another’s company have shifted into arguing about which caption will get the most attention for their post. Over time, the constant overthinking that goes into a single post begins to overshadow the joys of hanging out with friends and making memories, diminishing the authenticity of every social media post someone might encounter online.
In a world where our lives are filtered and heavily influenced by social media, it’s hard to define what the differences are between something genuine and “fake.” Yet by stepping back from technology and returning to a slower, less filtered way of living, people can go back to romanticizing the more grounded version it started as, through embracing real, unfiltered moments.
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