DOWNSIDE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

14 MAY 2022

I always think it must be utterly exhausting to have to have a properly curated social media presence, feeling like you have to be always on and in a constant state of perfection. On Instagram, I’ve start to unfollow those who post only heavily filtered and edited pictures (or ‘mute’ those I know so as not to cause offence). I’ve been behind the scenes at shoots or events and seen people on the edge of a breakdown due to stress, yet later that day they’ll post a happy, smiley picture and say how ‘#blessed’ their day was. I don’t understand that mentality – show me the tantrums, show me the tears, the truth is much more appealing to people. A couple of years ago, I read an interview with a well-known influencer, who admitted that just minutes before a picture she’d posted months earlier, she had been crying her eyes out, inconsolable after a row with her boyfriend. Yet this picture she put up showed her laughing, with a beautiful background and a caption about what a glorious day it was. In the later post, she urged her followers not to believe everything they see online, that it’s not always real. Yet to this day, she still posts curated pictures and tells those same followers what a brilliant life she has. The hypocrisy is staggering. On page 22 of today’s issue, former model Leanne Maskell lifts the curtain on her once Insta-perfect lifestyle, admitting that it almost drove her to suicide. It’s funny, we often talk about the effects it has on followers, but it can have a detrimental impact on those posting it too. That’s what I mean about it being exhausting. Imagine having to put a full face of make-up on at 7am simply because you need to put a post up at 8am and want to keep up appearances. Or forcing yourself to apply false tan on a Sunday evening because you’re scheduled to endorse something on a Monday afternoon. I feel sorry for their friends too – having to pose endlessly for content while out for lunch, instead of just catching up on the gossip. The irony is that, if they were more real, people would identify with them more and they would establish a far better relationship with their followers. They could also perhaps help them, rather than doing it purely to build a brand. While many people use the likes of Instagram for social reasons, connecting with family and friends, those with large followings must accept that it comes with responsibility. But there’s a responsibility on those of us who are following too. If what we are seeing makes us feel bad about our own lives or if we’re giving too much power to someone else’s posts, then we need to unfollow. Numbers are the thing that matters the most to these people, so if they see them dropping, maybe they’ll ask why. Hopefully someone will give them the unfiltered answer.

Enjoy the issue.