Authenticity and Admiration Online
Scrolling through Instagram is a landmine. We catch glimpses of Love Island contestants with constant tans, gym rats who manage to workout everyday and that one girl from your secondary school who seems to be abroad every other weekend. Everyone looks incredible. We are enchanted by their white teeth, their small waists and their ability to do it seemingly effortlessly. That’s all it is though - a glimpse.
When using social media, it is easy to forget that these posts have been curated for you. Everyone you know is posting the best parts of their lives online - because why would they post the bad parts? We are so interested in what is real and what isn’t, ‘authenticity’ was Merriam-Webster’s 2023 word of the year. They defined it as ‘true to one’s spirit, personality or character’. This word has also become synonymous with advertising, with countless corporations relying on it for marketing purposes. Products are pushed on us so that we can be our ‘best selves’. Being true to yourself is difficult when we are pressured into following trends and buying the latest thing.
Even realness is being marketed towards us. ‘Authentic’ social media apps, like BeReal, have the option to retake photos multiple times. There is also nothing stopping users from waiting to take the photo. Why would a user post a picture on their own when they could wait a few hours until they are surrounded by all their friends? We are all guilty of deleting our first try, maybe airbrushing some acne off our face, but this is exactly what blurs the lines between being authentic and being disingenuous. When 33% of 18-25 year olds edit their photos, it is increasingly more difficult to know what is real and what isn’t.
Social media is inherently built off of what gets engagement. For some, social media is a bubble of lives that are so glamorous - so unreachable that it is addictive. We obsess over celebrity relationships, their houses, their families. When an Instagram celeb decides to ‘get real’ online, it shatters that untouchable view we have of them and often followers don’t want to hear it. With celebrities not wanting to engage with more sensitive (“real”) topics, a cycle of vulnerability and backlash is created which reinforces inauthenticity online.
However, on other social medias, the appearance of authenticity is becoming the norm. TikTok users find comfort in watching Madelaine Argy talking about her ex, and we are finding connections with popular users through their bad days and breakups. Younger users are taking back the meaning of social media - using it to share every part of their lives. With little to no privacy today, it is easier to give into sharing, rather than trying to hide parts of ourselves. Vulnerability is relatable on contemporary social medias. This is new, and we are still learning the meaning of being authentic online.
The best part of social media is that we can choose who we follow and interact with. Curate your Instagram for you, not the other way around. Next time you feel yourself doubting your own life, remember that there is a lot more going on than what is shown in a photo dump.