Staring deep into the horizon, holding a glass of champagne, a table top showcasing fancy Italian food, donning your latest expensive jacket — ooh such poise !
You know it’s the perfectly orchestrated pose showcasing your finest moment, and with the help of a few incomprehensibly named photo filters, this click is going to break your social media. Such a star !

Edit » Apply Filter » Add Hashtags » Hit Publish !

Whoa, look ! The likes, hearts, surprises and every reaction that can be bundled into a tiny emoticon have started flooding your notifications at rapid speeds, delivering the approval you were desperately waiting for after all that hard work.

Hard work (read shallow effort) does flourish (read nothing).

Well, before my sarcasm starts rubbing you in the wrong way, let me come to the point and dare you to showcase the life you live behind the scenes — Yes, the monotonous routine where you eat a regular bowl of cereal instead of a breakfast buffet, drive to work with a straight face with the only thought of how many more cars is this city going to tolerate, wearing your regular work clothes drinking your regular choice of beverage.

The emphasis here is on the word REGULAR.

I know you want to showcase your best moments to the world and you love those tiny emojis acting as a constant source of validation for your efforts, but what will it take to help you realize that your social media feed is NOT a reality. You are aware of the epidemic of social media depression and how constant comparisons have resulted in lonely and unsatisfied lives.

It’s human nature to compare, but what you are comparing against is not real and needs to be rectified. If you have never felt dissatisfied with your life looking at the staged life of others on your news feed, then you have no reason to read further. But for the majority I believe it’s time for a reality check.

I have illustrated several harmful effects of social media addiction in another post but today I would like to dare you to present your routine life, and discuss why it is so important to do so. Well, if you need some encouragement, here’s me at my routine workplace, trying hard to comprehend some boring mathematics through a paper I am not particularly interested in reading

Behind the scenes of every social media post, is the ordinary life we all live each day, and no matter how many filters you try to use, these moments will not generate the excited reactions you are longing for. Social media is designed towards addiction — yes, it’s true. If you do not believe me, watch this video showcasing the thoughts of some famous personalities such as Simon Sinek.

Behind the scenes of a social media website is an algorithm that is engineered towards creating addictive behavior, wanting its users to keep coming back for more. Experts have correlated this behavior to a slot machine in a casino, where you keep refreshing your feed simply waiting for that extra dose of dopamine.
Remember how you post a profile picture and keep checking your notifications ?

Well, I’m not asking you to deactivate all your social media accounts and go back to living in the stone age, but to realize and be self conscious about the effects it is having on you without your knowing. Your mind is in a constant state of anxiety forcing you to keep looking into nothingness, driving you away, not just from your task and goals at hand, but from the present moment itself.

What would happen if you dare to show your life behind the scenes ?

• You contribute REALITY to a world that is constantly obstructing the true nature of life
• You are no longer creating negative emotions through orchestrated updates
• People can connect deeply with a regular life
• This is your small contribution towards the larger cause of battling mental health issues
• You are no longer preoccupied in planning the next move or update to garner higher number of ‘likes’ than before
• You can enjoy the present moment without seeking validation
• You no longer feel distracted as you quit being programmed by an algorithm

Realize that the world is in chaos because
Things are being Loved and People are being Used

Stop allowing yourself to be programmed, and live this moment, this reality the way it was always meant to be.
It’s not about portraying an extraordinary life, but living the ordinary life extraordinarily.

If you dare to show me your life behind the scenes, comment your most regular thing of the day today, and let us cheers to it !

Carpe Diem !

Related Links:

A Mind in Chains – Preventing Social Media Addiction