I’ve been raised by social media. Social media has influenced my community so much that even news outlets have more followers on social media than they have on TV. It has also changed our entire sense of humor; every joke you hear, every pun you say is based on memes or social media posts. Social media has changed our attitudes, mostly in young people, because young people are very influenceable. Social media has shaped our personalities and also increased our insecurities.

How many times have we seen an Instagram post about someone who is very attractive in an amazing place on vacation with their beautiful partner, without stress, living the perfect life? Watching people be happy has distracted us from being happy. We’re constantly watching perfection, and obviously, we all want perfection, we all want a perfect family, a perfect job, a perfect car, but perfection doesn’t exist.

In our constant search for perfection, we get frustrated because we always find someone that seems happier than we are, that has a perfect family, works a perfect job, drives a beautiful car, and we forget about enjoying what we have. We live in a constant state of frustration, and social media has influenced it.

In my opinion, the increase of depression and anxiety in our society is because of social media. Not all the blame is on social media, but without any doubt it is the main factor. We set our expectations in life incredibly high, because on social media we see a lot of people who have been incredibly successful in life. Yes, it is admirable and it’s good to hear their advice and all of that, but a lot of them got pretty lucky and had a lot of privileges and opportunities that we probably will never have.

I think that we have to enjoy life to the fullest, be more grateful, and celebrate small victories. It is okay to have ambitions and goals in life, but don’t put the bar too high — take a deep breath, enjoy what’s around you, and keep going.