BY: MORGAN KILGER, NEWS EDITOR
Photo Courtesy of Wikimeida Commons
If your social media feed is anything like mine, you have seen the “Social Media is Fake” trend on TikTok. The trend started seriously, with people posting struggles that go overlooked or hidden on social media and eventually turned into satire.
I have found peace with the non-satire videos I’ve seen. I’ve realized how much I hide through my social media platforms and compare myself to others — and how much I should embrace my true self.
Seeing the “Social Media is Fake” trend on TikTok made me realize that there are others who experience real-life struggles.
The trend started in late January 2024 and is still going strong. People began posting slideshows on their TikTok accounts about the struggles they experience daily, but they don’t share on social media.
Some examples I have seen are people dealing with social anxiety, skin-related problems and school.
Hiding myself on social media doesn’t help with how much I compare myself to others. My social media feeds tend to be filled with celebrities I follow and my friends. I adore the celebrities I follow, but there’s one issue with it — they’re my age.
There’s nothing wrong with a celebrity being 19-20 years old; I mean, look at Millie Bobby Brown. She’s 20 years old and is killing it in the acting field, one action movie at a time.
The issue with the celebrities I see on my feed is that I tend to compare myself to them. I compare their long and healthy hair to my short hair with split ends, their skin to mine and their body type to mine. By seeing these comparisons, I try to become these celebrities without embracing the features I have.
When it comes to seeing my friends, it’s a similar deal. I don’t compare myself to the people I see and their looks, but I tend to compare myself to those I see and what they do.
However, whenever I see people on my Instagram feed traveling around or attending concerts, I want to do all those things, too. Even though it doesn’t seem like a bad thing to be inspired by my friends, it makes my anxiety spike due to my introvertness.
Seeing people of my age share the struggles that I go through also made me feel heard. I felt relieved that I wasn’t the only person hiding behind my screen.
kilgermi22@bonaventure.edu
