In writing my paper on my social media use, I'm realizing how negative of an impact social media can have on us. We pick and choose what we want people to see to fit a certain idea we have of ourselves. I don't think I change myself too much on my social media profiles, if anything I stop myself from posting because I think people will think I look or sound stupid. That comes with its own separate slew of problems, though it does help with impression management since I'm preventing myself from posting anything that could look bad. Tik Tok is the closest I get to letting myself go online. I don't have anything inappropriate on my account that could get me fired in the future, just some cringy videos about things I enjoy.
It's upsetting that people don't think they can be themselves online. Everything today feels like a competition, so people force themselves to post the best aspects of their life online. However this is one game no one will win. Changing ourselves to fit others' alleged expectations will only leave us feeling worse about ourselves. It's important to remember this when scrolling online; everyone is showing their highlight reel, you don't actually know what's going on behind closed doors.
Obviously it's important not to post inappropriate things online because of who might see it, but I think everyone can challenge themselves to work on being their real self on platforms like Instagram and Snapchat. Pretending to be someone you're not, whether it be through something like catfishing or facetuning pictures, should reconsidered before going through with it. Changing yourself online both negatively impacts you, and those viewing your posts.
I think one of the biggest downfalls of impression management is how it plays into only displaying your highlight reel. You can't be your authentic self online because of how people will judge you and your posts. From a pessimistic point of view, impression management essentially tells you that your authentic self is not good enough, no one wants to know the real you. This is something society today cannot afford. Granted, that's a very pessimistic viewpoint, but impression management does leave people second-guessing what is "good enough" to post, and that doesn't always leave a positive mark.
Don't let social media distort your reality. You are good enough. :)
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