Painting the - Unrealistic - Picture

Social media encourages unrealistic images of people and their lives which can lead to corresponding unrealistic goals/ideas of happiness

The Quicksand of Instagram

Stalking in many ways has become a commonality. Spending extensive amounts of time reviewing someone's profile page, followers, liked pages, images they are tagged in - the list grows quite extensive - has become a social norm. Whether looking into a dating profile, or "catching up" with an old friend, nearly obsessive research into a person has become a widely accepted and used practice.

When the behaviour, though, is actually broken down, not only is it incredible that the practice is accepted and used as regularly as it is, it is simply unhealthy. In a case report done by the General Hospital of Psychiatry this behaviour specifically is highlighted: "'socially awkward adolescent stalkers who, motivated by loneliness, poor social skills and unpopularity, seek out unrequited relationships with people with whom they have little or no prior relationship" via social media platform. The discussion continues: "The intersection of social isolation... with the opportunity to easily, privately access intimate information about peers online may... lead to cyberstalking behaviour"; what's more, the stalking is becoming more of a socially normality by the day. This is just one example of how social media platforms encourages comparisons.

What's more, when users inevitably fall into the quicksand of social media, more often than not people forget in the illusory manner of the internet that such images marking an individual's 'life' are, for the most part curated. Dr. Brian Primack, the director of the Center for Research on Media, Technology and Health at the University of Pittsburgh, in an NPR interview discusses the danger of “curated photos” of real people - for the most part known friends, or friends by proxy, but not actors or people leading drastically different lives - who become the comparison points. Although some critics argue having more intimate connections with followers is better, the 'reality' of the photos also pose a new threat: a more justified comparison point. It is much easier to compare your life to someone from the same area, same background, same friends, and thus users often begin making comparisons of their lives to parts of someone else's.

Drowning in someone else's 'life' online, it becomes harder to distinguish which parts were/are realistic representations and which are simply staged. Sometimes, though, it is more than simply over-acting or even staging, sometimes it is blatant hiding. Jasmine Garsd discusses a sort-of social experiment done by Buzzfeed host Tracy Clayton in which she asked her audience to tweet her images where they looked much better than they actually were. The thread went viral. Garsd describes the "outpouring" of images and stories, highlighting one in particular: a photo of Mankaprr Conteh, 22, in the Carribean with her hands in her hair, smiling. The tone of the photo does not even begin to show what lingers behind the curtain of Instagram. Conteh describes the photo was actually from one of the worst times of her life as she was at a low struggling with depression and bipolar type 2.

"...constantly trying to project an unrealistic and unachievable perception of perfection within your social network"

This was one among hundreds of examples of photos and hidden stories that add to the facade of social media. Arguably more significant, though, is the fact that these staged, even deceitful photos are what become the comparison points for users. Both the comparing and the creation of these unrealistic portrayals are in many ways stress inducing. Amedie writes “The second way social media causes depression anxiety is from the stress produced from constantly trying to project an unrealistic and unachievable perception of perfection within your social network.” He continues, "The constant stress from constantly trying to project an image of perfection, a perfect career, perfect marriage, etc. leads to the constant release of the stress hormone cortisol, and just like social media usage, leads to depression anxiety.” In short, both the viewing and building of these alternate or 'social identities’ is stressful for users.

So What?

It is necessary to outline the illusory nature of social platforms, even constantly remind users of such, so that when the inevitable stalking/lurking on other profiles occurs users remember the photos online are not a true/holistic representation of an individual’s life. Forgetting social media does not represent an individual’s life can and has led to extensive comparisons to these “unrealistic and unachievable perception[s] of perfection” (Amedie 2015) thus leading to mental illnesses including chronic stress, anxiety, depression, body dysmorphia, and low self esteem.

Some criticism admits that perhaps in the past social media projected quixotic images, but in recent years the platforms and users alike have been striving to present more holistic representations of people and their lives. Although, to some degree there is some merit to this argument - there have been pushes in recent years on both ends to remind users social media profiles are not all encompassing - social media communication simply cannot replace real, forged human connections/interactions. Amedie writes "“There is no real way to forge real relationships strictly online as so much of a person’s true identity is tied to the aspects of their life unseen online from body language, to what is happening in a person’s life outside of the online world”. Social media thus presents an apparent risk, reward ratio in which the risks seem to outweigh significantly.

The simple solution: limit the opportunity for comparisons to online 'friends', limit the time and use of social media.