Life is precious. It’s unique to every individual and yet uncertain to all.
Life can be divided into two: simple and complex, or others will say simple and complicated. Despite the obvious clarity as to which of the two may seem less stressful, a lot of people settle on the latter, on the back of lies which they aggressively amplify on social media.
Social media has become a tool for many things, including the motherlode of deception—a perfect arena to erect lies, and reach millions of both credulous and non-gullible people with it.
While the pressures of life before the advent of social media and before the far-reaching arm of this tool were hard to handle, it has now become excruciating for many who are glued to social media where different layers of facades are served each day, generously.
The truth is, every perfect thing on social media is a half story, or almost a lie. And we all play to the game—yet, others as usual, go overboard with the lies, such that their entire existence has become a web of lies, just to generate likes and comments on social media.
It’s not difficult to understand the psychology behind social media validation, the lies and the ability to paint a perfect picture of a non-perfect life, to a group of people who are mostly also in on the game. But the question remains; to what extent?
I know a woman who is single, and has never been married. Yet on social media, she is happily married, with 2 children and goes on regular holidays with her husband and children. This woman posts photos of other people’s holidays as hers, featuring their hotel rooms and activities. Her followers have no clue as to the true state of her relationship or life.
This is a life of lies and extensively pathetic. But she does not see it that way. She says it’s the virtual world—the only place she can live her dreams.
Of course, she knows it is a lie and argues that it does not have any real impact on her life. What about the thousands of her followers who keep typing: ‘I tap into your blessing’ and ‘I pray for a lovely family like yours’ anytime she posts one of her expensive trips?
I know another person who is currently lodging with a friend, about to be kicked out. But on social media, he positions himself as a fabulously rich man with several businesses and properties. In real life, he is broke and unemployed.
It’s sad that an entire generation of a human race has somewhat become social media idiots—and consuming lies in a manner that’s steadily becoming part of our DNA.
Our innate struggle for perfection, for a quick turnaround of things without real hard work and to rapidly rise above those we don’t even come close to, is the fuel on the back of which the social media deceptive-train runs.
Someone will be at Konongo in Ghana but would “steal” a photo from Google and post that she is in Dubai with her “bae.” This is not necessary regarded as a sin, a crime or any bad—it’s just one of those acts which somehow adds to the person’s social media reputation.
We’ve become obsessed with our social media reputation or image, and have been fixated on that—to the detriment of our real life investments, happiness and comfort.
We take a single photo about 20 times—just to get that perfect one to post. And even that, we still have to edit or filter it.
Gradually, we are investing less in reality, having found solace, class and reputation built on a bunch or chops of lies on social media.
The gap of disappointment between the social media person and the real life individual is mostly huge, and sometimes even irreconcilable. You meet someone for real or you get a real touch of their true life and you cannot believe it’s the same person you know on social media or envy online.
It’s true that what we lack, we seek to make up for it in some way. And social media has become that blank life offered to all of us—with the consolation of EDIT, allowing people to paint a picture of lies, and even sort of perfect the lies, to the world.
For me, I’ve become used to the hovering internet lies. The real problem, I believe, sits on the desk of those credulous folks who cannot see beyond the veil—and the liars who cry to sleep each night in real life but live a compelling utopia-life on social media.
It sucks anytime someone whose social media profile depicts beauty and happiness commit suicide—but this also should remind us that, there is a distinction between what people serve us with and what’s really happening.
The toxicity of social media is real. I have several friends who have deleted their accounts permanently to escape the venom and many others regularly take breaks from social media, which they call ‘social media detox’ to free themselves from vicious lies and conversations of the virtual world which we’ve been trapped in.
Living a lie has become the new norm, despite the emptiness of it. And the dangers, even though glaringly clear, are not enough for us to tackle it or not to endorse it.
Millions of people have chosen a complicated life simply because it somewhat offers them a solution to their real-life obstacles and pains, instead of fighting these real-life issues.
Social media is fake, people easily shout. But that is the life of many—and a lot more will join.
You have a choice to invest in reality, and to choose a simple fulfilling life, far away from lies and exaggerations.
Don’t forget that: “…when we internally believe that what we see in social media is true and relevant to us, we are more likely to compare ourselves to it in an internal effort to evaluate ourselves against those around us (e.g., regarding our looks, wealth, significant other, family, etc.). As we do this against the idealized images and unreasonably positive life accounts that tend to permeate social media, we are likely to feel more poorly about ourselves and our lives,” says Psychology Today.
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