As the years go by, more people are joining social media and posting almost every second of their lives, as if the rest of the world really wants to know. Don’t get me wrong though, because I used to be one of those people. Social media allows us all to hide behind our profiles, and it gives us an opportunity to be whoever we want.
I used to be obsessed with Instagram. When I first made an account, I was 14. I took pictures on top of my dad’s trucks, and of my shoe collection, because those were the things that were cool to me. By the time I started high school, I realized that I was quite unpopular, and I just wanted to be noticed. I decided to delete my account, and create a new one – for the new me.
The new me was really into my appearance. I went from taking selfies in a “Cool Story, Bro.” t-shirt, to taking selfies with all of my older sister’s clothing. I learned how to position the camera in ways that made my double-chin disappear, and made my face look “cuter”. I became so obsessed with selfies that I would literally take one everywhere. Throughout my high school career, I noticed my followers had gone up from the 15 I had from my first account, to 700+, even though my profile was private. I was ecstatic! Finally, people were noticing me. Kids that I was dying to be friends with my freshman year were now complementing me as I walked the halls during sophomore year.
Even though I started to get noticed, I honestly didn’t like all the attention I was getting. People were now viewing me in a lustful way, and nobody was really trying to get to know the real me – and that’s probably because I wasn’t quite advertising the real me. I decided to let the real me shine. Instead of getting creative with all the angles and lighting to take the “perfect selfie”, I decided to become more creative with my captions, since the real me actually likes to write. I felt a lot more comfortable with myself and the things I was posting, than I did when I was seeking popularity.
I want people to see the real me, instead of just half of my face and duck lips. I’ve made my profile more about my life, with the occasional selfie here and there, instead of just a shrine to the new – now old – me. Any picture can be perfect, you just have to be yourself.
Unruly Bodies 
I had deleted my instagram because everyone started to get really superficial with it and didn’t have a sense of who there were anymore. I wanted to take pictures for myself and memories and not for the likes or comments that people would are so into now.
I think a good number of us have gone through a similar set of changes with regard to their internet personas. Frankly, I don’t think there is anything inherently wrong with posting selfies on social media, but I think it is generally perceived as a “problem” to others when they’re posted in conspicuous excess. At the end of the day, you can shape your personality and appearance any way you please on social media, as you yourself found out personally, but I suppose it’s still important to be mindful of how you choose to reflect aspects of yourself and your body (especially in this day and age…). Sidenote: If you still keep up a shoe collection or find some interest in trucks, why not start a specialized blog or two?
This blog post reminds me how social media can have such a strong impact on people and everyday life. We don’t really realize what someone in a picture or post is going through or how they are really feeling because we only see what is captured and not felt. For me it’s always easy to assume people are having a great and fun time when I see Instagram posts, Facebook statuses, and Snapchat stories but those are only snippets of someone’s life. People sometimes feel pressured to have a perfect and fun life on social media because that is all we see when we log on.