Social Media - How do you stay true to yourself?

Hangouts Student Life
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Social media has become such a significant part of our lives, and with that comes the pressure to live up to certain expectations. Whether it’s the perfect Instagram feed, the number of likes on Facebook, or the constant comparison to others, it can be quite overwhelming at times. I know of many young people who find themselves struggling to strike a balance between being authentic and succumbing to the pressures of maintaining a certain image online.

I’ve heard that many of you might have experienced similar feelings or have found effective ways to manage this.

So, I’m curious:

  1. How do you deal with social media pressure and expectations?
  2. Are there any strategies or mindsets you’ve adopted to help maintain a healthy relationship with social media while staying true to yourself?
  3. Is there even any sense of balance or authenticity on social media, since everything is carefully curated?

Let’s be open to sharing, it’ll be great to learn from one another! :slight_smile: I’m really looking forward to hearing your thoughts and learning from your experiences too! :slight_smile:

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  1. personally i dont have an issue with dealing with social media pressure, as i am not rather into social media as a whole. i usually use it for communication, or keeping up to date with what is happening around me, whether be it my friends, family, as well as national and/or foreign news.

  2. i think one strategy i have adopted would be that i have clearly given myself a limit on social media. as can be seen from the first point, i am not heavily involved with social media, and as such, i feel that i am able to be more “myself” without the need to keep up with the trends going around social media.

  3. i do feel there is a certain sense of authenticity in social media, however it differs from person to person. there are those who only want to show the good side of their life, for example, showing off their personal achievements. there are also others who show their ups and downs in life. neither are right nor wrong, i feel it is up to the individual to select and choose what they feel is comfortable to share with the public, or at least to their circle of friends. thus there is a sense of authenticity as the user is picking and selecting what they would like to show on social media.

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That’s a really interesting perspective, @bako. It’s also a timely reminder for us not to judge too quickly because authenticity means differently to different people.

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