Perfect lives on social media often fake

Enough of the world’s billion-plus social media users fake or embellish their day-to-day profile experiences to be worth commenting on. These people often do this to receive more “likes” fromfriends who are on Facebook or other social media sites.

A short movie from three brothers in Norway, “What’s on your mind?” has gone viral. It tells the story of a man who fakes a strenuous fitness workout, courageously quits his job (he was actually fired), etc. The video has received more than 10 million views.

The rise of social media peer pressure has been a contributing factor that seems to compel some people, both old and young, to feel as though they have to live a perfect life online. Alright, I am guilty myself.

I take lots of photos and I will often think of which shots will haul in those coveted likes on Facebook.

According to Sarah Knapton, science editor for the British Telegraph newspaper, up to a fifth of young people admit that their personal reality does not match their online profile, and that their description of past events has been embellished. They frequently spin the truth about their love life, athletic ability and their amazing vacations.

There are problems associated with this creative embellishment.

Impressing friends on social media with halftruths may cause false memories, and create other side effects. Psychologist Dr. Richard Sherry warned that it could also lead to feelings of shame and alienation.

Sherry says he can understand people wanting to put their best foot forward and impress their peer group. The problem is that if we give up our authenticity and barely recognize the “experiences” on our posts, feelings of guilt and disgust can create a sense of alienation.

Sometimes the person even feels compelled to tell bigger whoppers each time.

An Australian fashion model and social media star, Essena O’Neil, has quit her social media accounts, and she explained to her thousands of fans that her “dream life” was mostly false. While quitting Instagram, YouTube and Tumblr, O’Neil wrote in a final post that she has deleted over 2,000 photos that were mostly for self-promotion and product display. She admitted that she had wasted toomuch time as a teenager with social media, peer approval and her physical appearance, according to RheanaMurray of NBC News.

Before deleting her account, O’Neil edited the captions on several photos to showwhat was really happening in the images. She explained that a beach bikini photo actually took more than 100 attempts while trying to make her stomach look perfect, and that she had starved herself that day to do so. She admitted that she was paid to post a photo of a dress while making it look like it was really just part of her everyday wardrobe.

Now O’Neil has started a website called Let’s All Be Game Changers.

Besides criticizing her fake life on social media, she describes her current set of values, such as an eco-friendly, low-consumption lifestyle. She also criticizes charities that pay their CEOs huge salaries.

Faking or embellishing a social media profile seems pretty common these days. Anyone who is tempted should realize that there is a down-side that may poke its ugly head around the corner at any moment.