Social media : Expectation vs Reality

 If we chase after perfection, then we lose sight of all the wonderfully less-than-perfect blessings we have already been given.

This is what is happening due to social media addiction. People are expecting more and moving away from reality.

What one sees

Social media platforms are filled with stories of romantic gestures, anniversary tributes to long-lived relationships, and declarations of feeling blessed for the amazing lives being lived. It appears that most people, especially couples, are living lives full of nothing but happiness, love, and rewarding events and experiences.

What one feels

It is not uncommon for those personal and romantic gestures  types of posts to leave one with the feeling that one doesn't meaasure up to their standards. Feeling like somehow one has  failed to meet certain benchmarks along the way, or like  life is drudgery compared to others is an unfortunate result of being too involved in social media.

How one reacts

Too much attention to social media leads to depression and unrealistic expectations of your partner and relationship. You may find that apps like Facebook lead to a lot of marital problems. This kind of pressure to live up to what you see, and perceive as real, can keep you from finding satisfaction with what you have. Not to mention the desire to emulate those oh-so-perfectly positioned selfies.

What’s the Truth

 The doctored reality often presented on social media has the potential to exacerbate feelings of isolation, loneliness and anxiety. This can feed into a cycle of unrealistic social, physical and lifestyle expectations.

It can create a real negative impact upon their

A recent survey of almost 1,500 14-24 year olds looked at the impact of the four most popular social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

The research for the Royal Society for Public Health found that all four contribute negatively to young people’s sense of self, body image, levels of anxiety, sleep and fear of missing out.

The truth is that, generally speaking, most of what we see on social media is just ½ or ¼ of the story. We cannot see a full life, and all that it includes, in 5 sentence increments. Couples that seem totally in love and happy on Facebook battle the same issues all couples do, perhaps even more so given that they are focused on showcasing happiness so heavily. As it turns out, those head-over-heels in love, vacationing couple friends were working hard to save their marriage after she had battled severe depression upon losing her father unexpectedly.

And, take heart, many of those beautiful selfies that make you want to Google local plastic surgeons are run through photo-enhancement apps that give an unrealistic appearance of perfection. You too can have a 10-second makeover just by downloading an app.

The bottom line is we all need to be careful about measuring ourselves against others on social media. What we see is only what people want us to see or what they want us to believe. We would all like to be perceived as perfectly happy, perfectly together and with an incredible life. But truly, does anyone really have that? If we chase after perfection, then we lose sight of all the wonderfully less-than-perfect blessings we have already been given. You never know, you may in actuality be far better off than those you see on Facebook.