Perfect

A Beautiful Illusion

Sharpen the picture, enhance the color and put on the perfect filter so it matches the theme and then press upload as I wait for the likes. We live in a society where the word perfect suffocates us and controls every move we take. We live in a world defined by numbers.

Social networking is a simple way of reaching out to people. There are many pros and cons about this way of interacting and as the time passes, our world is becoming more like a mathematic function where the value is dependent of the variable called the internet. I can now find a job through social media, share my thoughts, find out the latest news or maybe find the one who I will meet at the end of the aisle on my wedding day. 

Social media also gives us the chance to portray our own fairy tale. In the article “Social Media made us Obsessed making Life Look perfect” (Elite Daily, 5 Feb, 2015) Miranda Athanasiou writes about people describing their life as if it was perfect. “The fact of the matter is, brag culture has resulted in us being too busy narrating our lives online that we’re forgetting to live them.” Athanasiou writes. For example there are many people who spend time taking the perfect picture of their meal rather than enjoying it while it is warm. 

On an episode of Dr. Phil "I Can’t Breathe without Wifi" (YouTube, 9 Oct, 2015) Khloe, 17, describes how social medias have made a huge impact on her everyday life. “I have never had a good self-esteem and I was bullied in high school” she says. Khloe describes how she found new friends, comfort and started feeling good about herself when she uploaded pictures of her on websites and saw the number of likes she got. Social networking provides interaction between many people which, in this scenario, led to a good effect on Khloe’s life. Eventually her time on the internet developed into an obsession and it became too much of a good thing. 

As Khloe, there are many teenagers who get a taste of the fabulous parts of social media before it turns into something morbid. Essena O'Neill was one of them and the journalist Kerry Chan-Laddaren tells her story in the article "social media is not real, says teen Instagram star" (CNN, 4 Nov, 2015). O'Neill ended her career as a model and wanted to send the message that all pictures that are uploaded are all edited and contrived to get more likes. "Social media is an illusion" she says.

The picture is sharpened, the color is enhanced and the perfect filter is on so it matches the theme. I have created an illusion of a flawless life and I have contributed to a society where the word perfect suffocates us. We need to stop trying to reach a goal that is unreachable.  Instead of creating a beautiful illusion, we need to start seeing the real beauty in life.

We need to stop letting numbers define us. We need to start defining ourselves.

Sources:

Social Media made us Obsessed making Life Look perfect, Elite Daily, http://elitedail...