The Real vs. The Social: Comparing Online to Real-Life

Social media is often viewed as a window into someone's life. When that person is picking and choosing what to show, it's more like a window with the curtains partially closed - you only get to see what they want you to see. While there's nothing wrong with this on the surface, everyone has a right to a certain level of privacy.

This can cause issues for those that are incapsulated by what they're seeing on social media. For instance, when people are thinking about what to post, they're going to post something they are proud of rather than something they are insecure about. In theory it makes sense, people always say to put your best foot forward if you want to make a good impression. The difference in the media is that it's constant. If everyone is only ever putting their best foot forward, then no one is seeing an authentic life.

"Social media has made the perfect look achievable, so now real has become undesirable" - Steven Bartlett

Photo // Unsplash

It doesn't seem beneficial for either side. to be exhausting to constantly put up a picture-perfect front. Always putting on makeup for a 30 second video, making sure to always pick the best filters for each photo, taking photo after photo to get the perfect shot, it takes a lot of effort to be perfect. Unfortunately, "People who want to be perfect usually have an exaggerated sense of their own shortcomings," meaning they too have suffered from feelings of inadequacy. Dual with the stress of being perfect online must be exhausting.

Personal accounts and private stories have allowed people to be imperfect, particularly with those closest to them. A similar occurrence has also begun on TikTok, where regular people are posted normal-people things. Despite being an entertainment app, TikTok often acts as a commonplace where people can share their trauma and other struggles in life. That's the deeper side of it, but TikTok truly let's people show an authentic side to their life.

"Perfection is a toxic desire. We are not supposed to be perfect," said Jane Fonda. "The challenge is to be whole."

We see it time and time again, regular people going viral, for spontaneous content that anyone could have come up with. Take @annaxsitar (Anna Sitar), for instance, who went viral for her "I don't want it" quote. Yet, she has stayed on top of TikTok, reaching over 11 million followers, with authentic content like healing from her long-term break up, daily motivations when she's just not feeling it and "starbies" drink orders to try. Despite what's going on in her life, Anna Sitar remains open with her audience and people love it. I bet if someone were to go look at Anna Sitar's real life and compare it to what she posts, they wouldn't find much different. Compared to the Kardashians, whose lives are hardly as glamorous as they make it out to be.

It's just as important that people aren't looking up to edited images only, as it is that those using social media know that it's okay to open those curtains in sharing their life (and not just the good parts).

Like, share or comment your thoughts!

Listen to this week's #GoingViral episode for a similar message!