Editor's Reflection on Social Media and Self-Esteem

Photo (c) 2018, openpr

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/social-medias-impact-on-self-esteem_us_58ade038e4b0d818c4f0a4e4

Editor’s Reflection:
Sometimes we might perceive social media as a competition, so we fall prey to the slot machine effect. We see other people with more make-up, skinny bodies and perfect features get the likes and attention. So we try to emulate them while our self-esteem takes a hit for the worse. Famous shows such as Catfish are perfect examples of "vanity validation". Catfish shows how we can manipulate our identity and create a persona. We can blame the online world, but the one at fault is our discontentment with our reality and our true self. I believe that we must keep in conscience that content posted on social media most likely does not reflect the whole picture. We should consider failings, mistakes and “ugliness” as part of being human, and not abnormalities that should be avoided.