The Mask We Form Online

    

       One media habit that I have noticed that I really don't enjoy is the fact that we try and present a better image of ourselves and in the process, sometimes become someone different on social media. It seems as though people become obsessed with presenting a perfect version of themselves on social media and on the internet in general. If we aren't trying to be perfect, we are trying to be relatable and funny and cynical, and get affiliation from that "relatable" aspect of ourselves. Everyone does this, and I see the most extreme version on Instagram. We have our rinsta, or our "real instagram", where we post perfect pictures, the best one out of countless pictures, and then our finsta, or our "fake instagram", where we are able to post selfies and funny things about ourselves to try and be relatable and express ourselves. We all put a mask on on social media, and rarely will you find someone being actually genuine, even in the comments and likes we leave on other's posts.

     I may be criticizing this, but this doesn't mean I don't do it. I myself have found that I am frequently not genuine on social media. I filter through pictures to post the best ones, and feel satisfaction when I get likes and comments, and also find that I tend to leave comments that I don't always mean. Social media is entertaining to me, and I do enjoy it, but I feel like the reality of human interaction becomes no longer a part of the picture on it. People that I struggle to have a conversation with suddenly become loud and confident on social media, and people who are awkward in real life become aesthetic or adopt a different persona on social media.
     Social media has allowed us to become more connected with one another, but it also provided a platform on which we present a different version of ourselves. I feel as a teenager, this can be somewhat harmful because we aren't allowed to be ourselves online without facing judgment, so then we present a false image of ourselves when instead we should be focusing on who we are and who we are becoming. However, social media could also do the opposite of this. Social media can also be a platform on which one can find one's identity, and truly establish their own sense of self. However, I frequently see that social media becomes a way for people to create a false mask of themselves. I don't know what the solution to this could be, because everyone does this. But, social media has both positive and negative aspects so we shouldn't ignore the positive aspects of social media but keep the fact that there is a false image that we tend to present using social media in mind.