The fake generation: Does social media tell you everything about my life?

by Guest blogger: Matshilele Nemakanga Sithole

Last week I was had a conversation with a close friend I made through Facebook about a year and half ago. She was grumbling at how her life sucks and she wishes she could have a perfect life like mine or another girl’s.

 I had to humble myself and reveal some of the astonishing daily life experiences that my Instagram, Facebook or Twitter account doesn’t tell the world, but in a world dominated by social media I can understand how one could easily be fooled into thinking everyone else in the world but them, is living a fairy-tale. My life is far from perfect. If anything, I, like my friend also tend to idolise other people’s lives that seem perfect on social networks.

  

Don’t get me wrong, I am happily married to one of the most amazing guys in the world and I am a mother to three cute girls but my life is not close to perfect (anyone who says theirs is probably lying), not all our Facebook statuses and pictures can document everything that we experience as a family- from our daily struggles as a couple, our arguments, toddler meltdowns, troubles caring for three kids (all younger than 2) to our messy family dates, devotions, travels, dinners, etc.

 My husband and I often laugh at how we both only pick the best moments of our days, months or years to share with Facebook, that if only we could tell Facebook when one of us woke up grumpy (its mostly me, thanks to him for putting up with me) or when things are just not going well with the kids or our parents, then social networks would have some element of truth and reality.

You would be so surprised how average people’s lives are (including mine) in reality. This is not meant to discourage those who post updates about their real lives for the sole purpose of encouraging and being role models to others but rather to encourage those who feel like everyone else is living in a fairy-tale but them. 

Life is made up of both the good and the bad, but since the bad can often be embarrassing, most people’s posts are carefully curated to depict a good appearance. One amazing thing about Social Networks is that they afford people from all walks of life to flaunt their stuff and brag about how much they love their lives, the best part: you can be one person online, another in your walking life and it seems like everyone is very good at inventing themselves.

 Next time if you look at someone’s Instagram/Facebook pictures and start feeling discontent and unhappy with your life, remember it’s mostly all about who can tell their story better. 

"For most people, what you see on social media is not what you get in real life. It is a constructed utopia of extravagant vacations juxtaposed with airbrushed photos of friends at parties or nice dinners. It serves as a virtual glass case of our joys and successes while our failures and troubles remain hidden from public view."-Briana Rifkin