While I’m a huge advocate of social media for its marketing purposes and its ability to connect people across all ways of life and from cities and countries afar, I also agree with many people that it’s given us a false sense of need.
I’m guilty of this — I’ll see a reel of a girl wearing a cute pair of shoes, and I immediately go look for them, add them to my cart and check for discounts. I’ll ask around to see if any of my friends have a pair, how they fit, whether they’re comfortable, and all the other questions a girl needs to ask before buying something.
My email inbox and text messages are filled with sales from any company whose website I’ve browsed, and while I love the marketing initiative, as a marketing professional myself, I also see the consumer’s side of it.
If JoAnn’s Fabric tells me fabric is at its lowest prices EVER, suddenly, I need fabric. If an item I favorited on Etsy is 15% off thanks to a coupon the seller sent me, suddenly, what was intended to be a Christmas gift — and Christmas just passed — arrives in my mailbox.
Yes, I’ve considered the fact that I have a spending problem, and I’ll admit I do have a little bit of a shopping habit. (I can hear my husband now — “Little?!”) But when you’re constantly bombarded with all of these perfect-looking homes with the cutesy little throw pillows and the built-in bookshelves and the designer wallpaper and the luxurious bathrooms, it’s easy to get a little envious.
You start pinning things on Pinterest and try to shortcut your way to that perfect-looking home — even though that perfect-looking home is probably owned by a millionaire with a housekeeper and an interior designer. You’re also not getting a full view of the home. That kitchen with the gorgeous tile backsplash? I bet if the videographer turned around, the island is filled with all the clutter that was sitting on the counter two minutes before the photoshoot.
That gorgeous girl on TikTok with the perfect hair and makeup? She’s probably wearing PJ bottoms below her flawless face and top. And that’s OK — but it’s also OK if all you managed to do today was get out of bed and make it to work.
Those workout routines you see on Instagram that take two hours to do are great — but you’re supposed to fit that into a schedule of picking up kids, cooking dinner, helping with homework, doing your job and having a life? It’s OK if your exercise is just chasing your kid around the yard after school.
Not everything has to be Instagram-worthy; not everything has to be posted on social media for everyone to see. Sometimes, the memory is better than the photo — and sometimes, the photo, however horrible it may be, is still a treasure, because once someone in that photo is gone, it’s all you have left of them.
My husband didn’t write me a three-paragraph-long birthday wish this year for everyone to see, but he did take me on a date to Savannah, where we rode the trolley on a Christmas light tour. He didn’t buy me a brand-new expensive purse from Louis Vuitton, but he did cross a few things off the list I sent him.
Sometimes, what we want and what we need are one and the same — so that’s what we end up with. But sometimes, they’re two on parallel paths, and what we want is never what we need. Priorities have to be taken into consideration. And as much as that can suck when you really want that _____ (new truck, new purse, new puppy, new sewing machine, new laptop, etc.), it’s better to be left wanting it with the knowledge that you can always get it later, than to buy it on impulse and then regret it, or even worse — find it on sale later on!
I guess what I’m trying to say is something we all already know but tend to forget while we’re scrolling through posts on our favorite social media platforms: Things aren’t always as they seem.
That girl with the seemingly perfect relationship — how do you know her boyfriend isn’t emotionally abusive?
The family with the perfectly posed Christmas card — how many times did that mama threaten to spank her kids if they didn’t stand still for just 10 seconds?
That influencer with the perfect skin thanks to her “favorite” product — is it actually her favorite, or is she just getting paid to call it that while she’s really using something more affordable?
With the rise of social media and the internet, critical thinking has taken a backseat for some. It’s time we bring it back to the forefront as we remain mindful about the choices we make and how we perceive ourselves. In a world where AI-generated content often blurs the lines of reality, it’s essential to pause and ensure we’re striving for authenticity — not an illusion.