The pressure to be rich and successful and why I don’t use Instagram much anymore

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Is it me or does everyone seem rich and successful? I can not scroll Instragram and not see at least someone who is stunting with a designer handbag, splurging at an expensive restaurant or having an expensive vacation (which by the way – we’re in a pandemic?). I can not scroll Linkedin without at least someone celebrating a new role or work anniversary.

I’ve wanted to talk about this for so long. I got inspired by the following Youtube videos I watched recently:

Social media can have such an adverse impact to our mental health and our perceived status. I’m 24, I’ve finished university, I have a full-time job, I’ve taken international vacations and sometimes I still feel like a failure. Social media really do be diminishing our accomplishments.

With the pandemic, people are flocking more to social media to find connections. It has really negatively impacted our social-economic outlook. Most of us will compare ourselves or even be jealous of others because we feel lesser to these people such as influencers who are flaunting this rich lifestyle.

When I was younger, I loved Instagram. I loved to share my life on Instagram. I went to Europe for 6 months whilst studying abroad and had this mentality that if you weren’t sharing it on social media then it didn’t happen. So of course I had to post a picture of me at Santorini on Instagram. However, ask yourself the next time if you’re posting if you’re being authentic and just wanting to share your life or are your posting because you want to prove a point and impress people and ‘flex’. God I hate that word.

Something important that I’ve learnt in recent years is that I’ve let go on trying to impress people and caring what people think. I’ve stopped putting value on how others perceive me and it’s been a huge weight off my shoulders. I used to get really sensitive when people would say I was ‘weird’ or ‘quirky’. For anyone who has felt down on comments like this, own your ‘quirkiness’. You have been able to differentiate from all the superficial people out there and have your own personality and uniqueness.

Honestly, the whole idea of enjoying validation from complete strangers is kind of weird.

The good news is there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that people are faking a lifestyle on social media.

So why try and impress people who don’t care about you?

By not having the opinions of others on you take control, we’re allowed to really believe in our own opinions of ourselves. I’m able to place importance on myself and how I really want to live life. In Adella’s youtube video, she asks the question ‘would you still purchase a designer handbag if you could not post it on social media’. Simple questions like that will make you question your behaviours.

If you find social media and that rich lifestyle exhausting, I would highly suggest you to get limit your usage of social media or unfollow people who don’t inspire you or make you feel negatively about yourself. I still use Instagram but I don’t use it anywhere near how much I used to before and never will. It actually all started because I would block myself from using social media when I was studying for my accounting exams. I surprisingly enjoyed it and it’s a habit that has stuck ever since.

I don’t think I could ever delete the platform but I do have the willpower of not using it. Apart from friends and people I know in real life, I predominantly follow a lot of music artists and drag queens. These are people who inspire me and keep my Instagram feed positive.

I don’t feel the need to share my life. I don’t feel compelled to compare myself to my friends or even complete strangers. They say that money doesn’t always buy happiness.

I really hoped that this post inspired you in some way. I think it’s really important to live our authentic selves and social media often allows us to keep a facade. It just isn’t a way that I want to live.