Social Media Authenticity
Or the challenges of growing up Generation Z
I will not deny it but I have loved being a consumer in the 2010s/2020s. I have been exposed to so much of culture and society with the power of a single device. I have kept in touch with friends I have made across the world, some of which are nice enough to partake in reading my weekly ramblings found here. But has social media caused more damage to my psyche (as well as many others) than benefits?
Back in May, I partook in a debate on the effects of social media in my French class (I know I mention it a lot but it was truly incredible). While the other two discussed on the various negative attributes of its usage, I shed light on the positives.
Growing up in New York with the majority of my family in Miami or abroad in Colombia and beyond, social media gave me access to their lives. I was able to keep in touch with them. My two older cousins, encouraged me to download Instagram and Snapchat as well as Vine, which no longer exists, to continue our relationship.
I also remember vividly watching YouTube videos from a young age, especially loving makeup tutorials that I could recreate on Photo Booth secretly using my mother’s products. This age of innocence and bliss was of course obstructed by the presence of media yet I still did not suffer from the consequences of early usage.
I eventually began sleep-away camp and soon after summer programs and now university, where I met people I still cherish today. While my camp in Maine did not allow for the usage of technology, I adored listening to songs on my iPod nano. This attachment to the device was no where near as damaging as other times but it shows the dependence common in my generation.
Today, I question why my heart broke one too many times in middle school seeing the events of exclusive sleepovers on TikTok. Was it truly that serious? But it really stung then and that little girl still lives within me….she still longs to feel accepted in real life and thus on the media as well.
It hurts that connection can be limited to private story or spam account access (which are still not authentic enough)…that trust can simply be questioned. Why on our main pages (typically Instagram) are we pressured to post the photos that create an image of the person we wish to embody?
I may be coming off too honest here but is anybody truly being authentic on any outlet they can have. How much am I filtering out by posting this…hiding my true insecurities in favour of creating a positive image of myself without complications.
I am forever jealous of my parent’s ease with growing up without social media. They never had to know of events they were excluded from and such as there was no way of knowing at all. As someone who treasures honesty, how will I ever know if people….even some of my closest friends, hid things from me, assuming it would hurt less. Thank you Charli XCX (and Lorde too) for showing that you “can work it out on the remix.”
Man, I may have opened a little too much here…but the damage has been done. There are reasons why I did not post at all on Instagram between March 2018 to December 2020. It is hard to even desire posting at all anywhere when you feel you will get nothing out of it. Even when I share my projects including this and CLARA (check out clarauchicago on Instagram for details) it takes a moment to decide if I want to share.
As the curator of my image, I knew I would have to discuss this at one point. Similar to how my Instagram page serves as an outlet for an aesthetically driven grid….which features how I choose to present myself to “followers.” My TikTok I try to handle less seriously, albeit it is still fitting for my personality.
It just breaks me honestly that I have to write out all of this to truly express how I feel. I cannot just text a “friend” and ask brutally honestly “why am I not allowed to follow x” or “why was I not invited to y?” I am extremely grateful for all the opportunities given to me both socially and personally beneficial but I do not like to make it seem like I feel superior to someone.
Things are always going to be exclusive and I cannot change that but authenticity and honesty are ways to the break the blurred lines of connection. It is just so disappointing for me to have to resort to a means like this to document my opinions on such regards. If you feel somewhat similarly, I am willing to discuss but please know I am always trying to make things accessible by sharing stuff like this.
Thank you all for reading my sentiments,
Sophia x