Social Media Is Not Reality

Everyday when you wake up and browse through your Instagram feed (ok, I hope I’m not the only one who treats it like their daily newspaper – guilty) you’re embraced with beautiful photography of ones breakfast, motivational quotes, a positive attitude and overall an image of someone’s life who seems to have their shizzle together. You love their images, you love their attitude, you love their style, you love their food… You love everything they stand for. Although, there’s just one thing. That is not their life – not their whole life anyway. Social media is not a reality.

Body Image

Whether you search for it or not, you’ll come across some form of body image on social media. Whether that be bikini body competitors, bodybuilders, or gorgeous figures that vary in all shape and sizes. Most of these people upload these photos of themselves when they’re feeling good, like the way they look, or have found a spot with amazing lighting. We can all admit, myself included, that we’ve all taken a thousand selfies to only pick out the best one. That’s because people are in control of what they show and what they don’t. Ultimately this means that they will always (most probably) pick the best side of themselves to show.

Fancy Food Posts

Let’s get this straight: If you follow an account on social media who only posts pictures of their healthy meals then this does not mean that they never have unhealthy days. Of course they do. We all do! This being one of the main reason why my ethos is all about a balanced, healthy lifestyle –  I love letting my followers know that whilst I eat healthy during the week I also love a large pizza to myself on the weekend… and possibly
ice-cream too. Ok, who am I kidding? Ice-Cream is always on the agenda.

Food (of any sort) should not make you feel guilty. It also doesn’t have to look pretty and perfect for it to be edible. Seriously, it takes commitment to reheat your food again after the 10 thousand shots you’ve just taken of it. Love food (whatever it is) in a balanced way. Eat your greens and veg but also enjoy your favourite ice-cream and tuck into that pizza. #balance

Filters

Yes, guilty as charged! We all love a good filter. Whether it’s the dog filter on SnapChat or personally modifying your own filter on Instagram. It makes us look good and that’s why we love it! But guess what… it’s not real! Filters can give us amazing skin tone, cover those ugly spots and make our bodies look different – we all know that. But what I’m trying to say is don’t get too hung up on how perfect you look behind a filter because I hate to break it to you, but you don’t look like that. We’re all perfect in our own perfect way… Just not behind a filter! Own what you have and be proud of it. Perhaps one day try toning down the use of filters and see how it makes you feel.

Abs

This one not only refers to me (many others also) but is probably the one I see every.single.day. People on social media are obsessing over ab definition wayyyyy too much. But, you know what the thing is? Ab definition doesn’t last! The images you’ll see of my abs on Instagram are taken first thing in the morning before i’ve eaten and before my body has been drowned with 4 litres of water. By lunch time my abs are none existent. I would have to flex pretty hard to look like I do in the mornings. So no, most of us do not walk around with a strong six pack all day, everyday.

Positivity

It’s very rare on social media that you’ll see a feed continuing to share bad days – unless you are an account promoting a ‘real life’ outlook, showing the good and the bad, of course.

However, most of social media is all about looking and feeling your best which of course is motivating, but when you are having a bad day it’s important to remember that EVERYBODY goes through the same. They however, may just try to put a positive spin on it or hide it completely. This goes for photos too – perhaps an old photo will be used instead of a current photo because they didn’t quite look their ‘best’. So just remember the next time you’re having a bad day that you are not alone. We’ve all got to go through bad days to experience the good days in life.

Don’t get me wrong, I love social media and the opportunities it creates. It’s incredibly motivating and for me – has opened up amazing offers including lots of new friendships. However, if you find yourself getting caught up in the ‘fake’ world of social media then remind yourself it’s not real! Everybody has bad days. Me, you, Britney Spears… Absolutely everybody. My advice however, is if you do find that you have a constant negative feeling from social media then unfollow the accounts that are responsible and start following new ones. Pick the accounts that are right for you and perhaps show the more ‘raw’ side of social media and that everything isn’t always sunshines and rainbows!

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