Perfect body, a ton of money and designer clothes. 

Social media is a world of dream and fantasy to many. It’s a place for everyone to portray an image of themselves that  they’re really not. 

But although it’s easy to be somebody on social media and make it seem like you’re living a better life, in reality these very same people are living average lives. Even a few of your favorite Instagram idols are average people.

Social media has brought me opportunities and accomplishments. Some of my peers would say I’m Instagram “famous” because of my large following on social media. I’ve attracted celebrities to my page like Kodak Black, one my favorite rappers, to like one of my pictures before. Social media has also given me another source of income by doing promotions for people similar to the advertisements we do for this class. Thanks to social media, I’ve been able to make a name for myself through promoting my music or simply just posting pictures of myself. 

But social media serves as a blessing and a curse for me. 

Social media has made me a target and brought me many enemies. People don’t like me for the person I am or my character, I’ve noticed that people are drawn to me for the materialistic things I have and my online fame. Social media can easily ruin my reputation because people will believe everything they read. This makes it able for online trolls to spread false information about me and there’s really not much I can do about it. 

As much as we want to flaunt our accomplishments online, we need to learn how to keep some parts of our lives private such as your love life or your family because the internet is brutal.

Some celebrities keep from posting pictures of their newborn child and although some say they are overreacting by doing this, all you need to do is scroll through a celebrity’s comment section. There are hateful and nasty comments and we can understand that a celebrity refusing to post their child is their form of protection. Online trolls know they have power from behind a screen and use this to their advantage. 

Many people also refrain from posting their partner. Not because they’re trying to keep them a secret but to keep people from spoiling something that’s meant to be intimate and  beautiful. 

Unfortunately I was not one of those people and my last relationship was a victim of social media’s toxicity. Social media ruined my last relationship.

I felt I had always brought attention to the people I date because of my large following and in the beginning it was easy to believe that social media wouldn’t be able to control so much of my personal life. Although my partner and I never cared about what was said about us, a relationship can only handle so much external criticism and influence before caving in. Flaunting our relationship on social media caused tension between us. 

Social media had so much power over our relationship that it turned us into people we didn’t recognize. We would both act childish and feel the need to address private matters publicly.  I had people tell me negative things about him and it put a strain on our relationship because I felt compelled to choose a side.

A private life is a happy life and people can’t ruin what they don’t know.

Social media is never the place to flaunt what you love unless you think you can handle the backlash and opinions. Anything you care about shouldn’t be posted because you’ll immediately get defensive when something negative is said. 

So the next time you feel the need to celebrate your accomplishments and make your blessings public, keep in mind the amount of control you’re allowing the internet to have over your well-being.