Social media is the ‘it thing’. Whether for business, personal use, or to verify someone’s authenticity, social media has been the key. It has become a basic need, and missing out on it means missing out on global trends, news, and even valuable opportunities. Due to this, people have become even more fixated on it. However, attached to social media is validation. It has become harder to separate between using social media for yourself and using it to get approval from the world. People constantly want the followers, likes, and positive feedback they get, and because of this, they have been negatively affected by the validation they seek even without knowing it. Here are some ways in which social media validation negatively affects you.
Constant Comparison
Comparison is the thief of joy. It distracts you from seeing all the good things about you by focusing on all the things other people have that you may not. The clothes, money, relationships, and opportunities that everyone else is posting on social media may make you feel lacking compared to them. By constantly seeking validation from social media, you will find yourself comparing yourself to others. Instead of being fun, it becomes competitive. You are the only person you should compare yourself to, but seeking social media validation will affect that. You need to stop seeking validation on social media and focus on being content with your life if you want to be happier.
Unrealistic Expectations
On social media, it seems like everyone has their lives together. From the fancy cars to the amazing relationships, they seem to have it all. However, that is not the reality of life at all. People are not going to air out their dirty laundry on social media. They will make it look easy and seem easy, and in turn, you will expect to have it all, too. Do not be gullible; stop seeking social media validation and take the time to knock yourself back to reality. Social media is not reality, so stop having unrealistic expectations and be content with your life as it is.
Interference with Your Social Life
Seeking social media validation can make you lose touch with your real-life social connections. You may become that friend who keeps canceling their plans to vlog, or you may be the friend who keeps focusing on videos, pictures, and social media when it is time for quality interactions. Either way, by constantly looking for new content to validate, you run the risk of losing the people who care about you. Instead of seeking social media validation, be good to the people who know and love you.
Low self-esteem
Imagine posting your favorite picture and then getting negative reactions. Instead of feeling beautiful or handsome, you will feel the opposite. From body-shaming to deface-shaming, social media will do the most. Since you will be seeking that validation, depending on your being on it, it will eat at you. You are beautiful as you are, and relying on strangers to dictate who you are and to say whatever they want will harm your self-esteem. Seeking social media validation could leave you feeling a sense of low self-esteem, affecting your real life.
Reduced Self-Awareness
Being self-aware is what allows us to experience personal growth. Knowing your true self and working on being better is the only way you can grow and understand yourself better. However, when you seek social media validation, the version of you that you are creating interferes with the real version of you. It can become very hard to tell apart the you that leaves snarky comments from the you that is moral and upholds love. Seeking validation from social media will affect your self-awareness by reducing it, making you unaware of yourself.
Increased Anxiety
Did they like my picture? Did they see what that person posted about me? Why am I not part of the cool people’s page yet? Is something wrong with the picture I posted? What if I bump into my social media friends wearing this and doing that? All these questions are a reflection of heightened anxiety. Instead of social media just being a fun place to be, once in a while, it becomes the basis of everything when you start seeking social media validation. In reaction to this, you may become anxious and increasingly depressed.
Reduced Independence
Seeking social media validation will increase your dependence on others to make decisions for you. Instead of being independent, you tend to want to follow what the social media crowd wants and approves of. Your life decisions and actions will end up being based on what’s trending, who will approve it, and if it will make your followers happy. This will enhance your dependence on other people and their perspectives. Your views and perspective will become reliant on other people, taking away your independence. Seeking social media validation will affect you negatively by reducing your independence.
Reduced Authenticity
Real is priceless. The you that people love, care about, and cherish is okay as it is. However, by seeking social media validation, one will alter certain aspects of themselves, seeking to be more desirable at the expense of their authentic self. Instead of being accepting of who you are, social media validation will make you want to be idolized, and in the process, your self-expression is curbed and affected. Your authentic nature is beautiful, and seeking social media validation will only harm that.