The Social Mirror Horror
A lot of young people out there are simply imitations of some celebrities they idolize. Most people spend the most productive hours of their lives online, and would be more alive online for the rest of their lives. Social media platforms blesses all with numerous opportunities, especially in terms of business reach. I can be in the corner of my room with my phone and be actively involved in conversations that would affect the life of someone else in any part of the world.
I have this bad habit of reaching for my phone to check twitter immediately I wake up from my sleep even if its just 2:00am. I like the blessings of being in tune with every trend online as soon as it drops. Knowing what trends at every point in time simply enriches every gist and provides familiar content for most conversations I engage in, but the problem is it also makes my argument biased. I sometimes speak in line with the most resonating comments on any post online. There are a lot of contents to digest and very little time to carefully think through.
Most people drive themselves up the wall because of their desperation to keep up with their online presence. Clout chasing is now a very common term in our vocabulary because we see a lot of content online trending all for the sake of seeking attention or some sort of validation. People are increasingly becoming depressed and taking irrational decisions because they model every part of their being by what is represented online.
I see a lot of post where pretty young ladies would attribute their beauty to drinking lots of water and minding their business. Aunty Sade from Yaba that also saw that post would then think that all she needs to do to look the same way would be to drink a lot of water and mind her business. She wouldn’t consider that she takes Ofada rice for breakfast while the pretty lady online probably takes cereals or fruits or sandwich. Aunty Sade would not remember that she lives in a city ridden with all sorts of pollution especially air pollution. Dust and exhaust fumes mostly from cars, settle on her skin while on a bike ride from Oju elegba to Alagomeji. She would then carry with her, 2 litres of water just to look fresh, forgetting that clean rest rooms to take a pee when nature calls are not readily available when she’s out of her house or out of her office. The pretty lady online probably even spends thousands of dollars on beauty regimen, but she doesn’t have to put that in her post. Aunty Sade would probably be better off with a very good moisturizer and sunscreen.
A lot of people are living very unhappy lives because they keep playing catch up with contents they see online. There was a time I hated every hairstyle I ever made and complained about how I could never find a good hairstylist around me. I would buy very expensive weaves and take them out just few weeks after having them sewed in. It took me a while to realize the problem wasn’t necessarily the kind of weaves I bought or the skill of the stylist. The problem was I wanted all my hairstyles to look exactly like the picture I show my stylist. My forehead and that of Kim are not the same, neither is the shape of our head. So even if I use exactly the weave she had on in the picture on my phone, I will not look exactly like her.
One sure way to live a very depressing life, is to compare yourself with other people whether online or offline. Most people are living their lives as versions of other people. They don’t even know what they like or what truly works for them. We are all different in beautiful ways, no one is alike not even twins from the same mother. What works for Jack probably won’t work for Jude, so instead of trying to be like someone else or everyone else, try to find out what’s good for you.
We all need to cultivate the good habit of taking a break off social media often. Most of the contents online has been thoroughly filtered to impress the viewer. Every single person on earth has some sort of flaws, and that’s perfectly human. Our differences is what makes us unique, but you might not figure them out if you are in a race to be like someone else. Put down that phone often, and put on that dress the way you feel like. Rock that hairstyle the way you want to, you might just be the one to set a trend later. Stop living by templates set by other people, you’ll never feel whole that way. Do YOU often because you’re unique!!
