It’s Complicated: Students’ complex, curated, fascinating, filtered lives on social media
By Samuel Valenica
Social media has come to engulf most of our lives, with platforms like Instagram and Snapchat dominating the industry and keeping everyone connected. But how much of what we show is true to our character? What does this struggle to appear as the best version of ourselves do to our mental health?
Instagram has come to replace Facebook for Gen-Z as the central hub where everyone can share their lives, no matter how “real” it may actually be. Liane Meza, a student at PCC, is someone who hardly uses the app, and discussed the benefits of having an Instagram account in the modern age.
“I know friends that want to do stuff that has to do with social media, so they’re really doing it for the experience,” Meza said. “I also get that once you build up the presence, people have a certain expectation of you.”
In trying to keep up the facade, the enjoyment of these platforms is lost. True expression is traded for a competition of who can live the most seemingly interesting life. The attention people are given only further feeds into this awful cycle, which according to the National Center for Health Research, works to create a toxic environment through several means including subtly changing the way users perceive themselves.
Jonathan Pasquini, a student at PCC, is someone who used the platform to simply follow his interests and talk to friends. Pasquini believes that the most complex part of social media is comparing ourselves to each other.
“I think when you go on Instagram and scroll for hours and you see a lot of other people having a good time and you feel like you’re at home doing nothing, it’s a pretty common problem,” Pasquini said. “You feel like other people are living a better life than you are.”
Pasquini agrees that the platform is still an incredible resource for people, specifically for artists.
“For a lot of people, it truly is a great representation of them,” Pasquini said. “Especially, people who post their art or take photos of scenery, it highlights their lives better than people who just post whatever.”
Mirai Espinosa, a student at PCC who hardly posts on her account, expressed that her reasons for rarely posting were more to do with the effects it had on her mental health and less with the platform itself.
“It seems a little weird that I’m so worried about what people think about me when I say it out loud,” Espinosa said. “But in today’s media, everyone out there is so worried about what people think, it can be draining.”
While she doesn’t post often, Espinosa mentioned the usefulness of Instagram to stay connected with people that she does not see very frequently.
“I think social media and Instagram more specifically are great outlets to keep up with people,” Espinosa said. “Without DMs on Instagram I wouldn’t be talking to like half the people I still know.”
These features are integral to the function of the platform and the connectivity of social media at large. Regardless of people using the app to post about themselves or their interests, it still can be draining.
A modern trend started by some influencers like Emma Chamberlain is the manufacturing of candid moments in everyday life. PCC student Stacy Giu sees these trends often and recognizes how draining it is to try to meet this standard.
“I’ve noticed this new trend where people plan to present themselves as this super nonchalant version of themselves and it’s super extra,” Giu said. “They act like it takes no effort when these types of photos take a whole photo shoot to plan. Influencers like Emma Chamberlain sort of popularized it where you act like the photos just kind of happen when they are planned in advance.”
In creating this imaginary version of themselves, people can shield their more personal details and engineer what they want people to see. Not only can this be harmful to one’s mental state, but it is also incredibly isolating to be one person online and a completely different one offline. In a study published by Reis College, they highlight that social media steals the proper face-to-face connections and instead trades them for instant gratification in the form of likes.
Espinosa admits that she did create an ideal image of herself but also expressed the complexities of having an account on Instagram.
“I would say my account is a very good representation of the person I want people to see as opposed to the person I actually am,” Espinosa said. “It’s totally masked, and not in a bad way or anything like that but it’s just weird.”
This online masking associated with social media sites is often paired with imposter syndrome, an unfortunate side effect of the value our society places on the comparison. Imposter Syndrome is when someone is very successful but their mind doesn’t allow them to feel that sense of achievement internally. No matter how hard these social media companies try to create community and connectivity, they are ultimately creating a divide between users and the imaginary competition that can be so universally harmful.
While most recognize the negative effects that social media has had on their mental health, they still choose to stick around on the platform whether that reason be their friends or silly internet memes. Meza is one of these people who has considered moving on but continues to engage with these platforms.
“I totally have thought about it but just never went through with it. I always thought like I hardly post or do anything on it so like why am I even still on it,” Meza said.
While Meza has taken the first step to moving on past social media, she hasn’t fully stepped away. But people like Josue Nunez have committed and continued on that path, staying off of the platform for good.
“I used Instagram mainly and I had to give it up because it was simply taking up too much of my time,” Nunez said. “It got to a point where even keeping up with a group chat and looking at the thing they sent me felt like too much.”
Nunez explained that while he had his account, it did represent him, but not so much his actual life but rather his humor, and that it was primarily the thing that he wanted people to see.
“I really would only post to my story and even then it was really just memes and silly things I found online,” Nunez said. “I wanted to try and keep it real to myself but I found that it just turned into that on my stories. Truthfully, using Instagram was only part of the story, and I was still hiding the rest of it off of the app.”
Giu is another student who deleted the app while retaining her account. She noted that while she doesn’t like the app, it is undeniable in its usefulness in today’s world.
“I had like a super addiction, and I was on every single one out there,” Giu said. “As college arrived I realized it was bad for me and my self-image because I was constantly comparing myself to everyone else. I stopped being lonely because I had friends in real life which was way healthier than being on social media all the time. Even though I deleted the app, I still give out my handle because ultimately it is the best way to network and hear about careers and what could be your future.”
She later went on to explore her road to disliking the platform and also how she views some of those who still linger on the platform.
“I definitely started to dislike it a lot towards the end before I deleted it,” Giu said “I would seriously just say out loud ‘I hate Instagram’ and my friends would laugh but I was being serious. I just recently learned of the term chronically online and that definitely describes a lot of the people who use Instagram and those platforms. They don’t have a true grip on how people look or operate or how [successful they actually are].”
This feeling of hating the platform after spending so much time on it is most likely a result of realizing the time that is lost and what could’ve been done with it. Instead of scrolling for hours and hours on end like the company wants you to, you could’ve been working, studying or literally anything else.
While the current picture is seemingly bleak, there are people who enjoy the comfort that these platforms provide. Seleste Avila is one such student who finds comfort in having so many different ways to reach people and connect with them.
“I have all of them, and I use each of them for something different,” Avila said. “I use Instagram to DM people, Snapchat to vent and text, and Reddit for stories that I find funny.”
All of these different platforms can be a lot for some, but not for Avila who uses them in such distinct ways that they never mesh together with her. She also mentioned how she views the platforms.
“I think they’re all healthy ways to express myself and I use them healthily,” Avila said. “I use them as a form of expression and as a way to be inspired or potentially inspire somebody else. I don’t tear myself or anyone else down, it’s simply an outlet for me.”
While Instagram is a way for Avila to express her more creative side, Snapchat is her go-to to express herself to her friends and release her pent up thoughts.
“On Instagram, I post scenery that I think is super pretty, or sometimes it’s just pictures of myself, but on Snapchat that’s where I keep it more personal and it’s only for the people I am really close to,” Avila said. “I share just random thoughts of like stuff I was thinking about throughout the day or things that are on my mind at the moment. It really helps to get this kind of stuff off of my chest.”
Avila also weighed in on people who step away from these platforms, mentioning how she has too much time put in to simply walk away.
“I’ve considered walking away just because I have seen other people do it,” Avila said. “But every time I think of it I just don’t do it because I have put way too much time into it to just drop it out of the blue.”
If someone were to describe the relationship between social media and our personal lives, it would be “It’s Complicated.” Even when we say we like the different platforms it’s immediately followed with a “but” or a “well.” This connective tissue in our society is beneficial for a variety of reasons, but can also be a hindrance and mental roadblock that leads to a lot of unnecessary trouble.
