Media Content Reflection: Instagram

A form of media that I have recently interacted with is Instagram. I feel like I have

always had a love hate relationship with this form of social media. While it can be a great way to

interact with friends, there are a lot of other aspects to this platform that I don’t love. Personally,

I think that over these last few years, Instagram has become faker and faker in the way that

people interact and post. You can’t even trust the images you see on there anymore due to the

fact that it has become uncommon to not edit the photos you post. I think the root is this problem

is influencers and celebrities. They try to make their life seem perfect. They want their followers

to think they have the perfect body, the perfect hair, the perfect face, and just the perfect life. Not

only has this trend become popular to mimic, but I also always think it can be quite dangerous

for those who view these pages. Viewers go on these pages and see only the most perfect parts of

someone’s life, and they are edited 99% of the time. Not only do I see this issue on influencers

pages, but it can now also be seen on “regular people” pages. Heavily editing pictures has

become the norm and it is so hard not to fall into this trap.

I chose to reflect on this form of social media because it has been affecting me more and

more as I get older. Being surrounded by this kind of culture is something that is hard on a daily

basis. Even when I get on other platforms like Snapchat, you still see things like this in the Daily

Mail, where people like Khloe Kardashian have been once again caught editing their photos so

bad that they don’t even look like the same person. This causes a false reality for the people that

see this, maybe thinking they need to look like this when that person doesn’t even look like that

photo in real life. Overall, I think that these issues speak for the culture we live in today and the

way that social media has influenced our lives. I am very glad that when I was really young,
social media and electronics were not as popular as they are today. The children that have to

grow up fully submerged in this kind of culture are going to need parents who teach them about

these kinds of issues on social media and help them to not fall into these traps.