Last semester a new form of social media grew in popularity, not only around SU campus but around the world. BeReal is a platform that aims to encourage authenticity from its users by sending out a randomly timed daily notification when they can post a picture of whatever they’re doing at that moment. In theory, the concept is groundbreaking – it actively works to erase the stigma of perfection on the internet.

In practice, however, individuals continue to search for ways around the platform’s unique design. In my own personal experience, many have decided to save their daily BeReal post for when they determine they are doing something more interesting. This outright defiance of what is supposed to be the breaking of social media expectations goes back to the ongoing debate about the correlation between the internet and mental health. The societal pressure to specifically curate one’s online image to fit into a certain standard is actively harming the mental health of young people.

Various social media platforms are designed to engage their users in any way possible. For example, last October a whistleblower exposed Facebook, now known as Meta, for the harmful tactics the company’s algorithms used to keep people on their sites.

Megan Thompson | Digital Design Director

Despite knowing it would negatively impact the mental health of young teen girls in regard to suicidal thoughts and eating disorders, the company continued to push out specific content because it received the most engagement. This type of content fuels the need for users to meet unrealistic expectations, which is only reinforced when they post content and are rewarded with ‘likes’ and positive comments.

Several studies show that when a social media user sees someone else post about what appears to be the ideal life, they often fear they’re missing out on an experience or that their own life is not good enough in comparison to others. These experiences contribute to feelings of depression and anxiety. One study shows that when compared to a control group that did not engage in unnecessary social media use, individuals who engaged in online spaces had a 70% increase in self-reported depressive symptoms.

BeReal’s initial spike in popularity seemed promising. It felt as if society was ready to move on from this toxic cycle of feeding into unrealistic online expectations. But it’s disheartening to see my peers outwardly resist the platform’s main goal.

I worry about what this means for our generation — to have our perception of what is considered to be normal skewed by what algorithms push before our eyes. It is incredibly unrealistic to be living a perfect life all of the time, yet we are being taught that this is what we should portray online. The standards we are now expected to meet solely to receive the temporary satisfaction of positive feedback makes way for long-lasting mental health issues and potential social media addiction.

This ongoing cycle keeps us from recognizing that it is okay to not be put together all of the time. It is okay to not be living a romanticized version of life all day, every day. The fact that some people genuinely are oblivious to this is concerning.

I am not saying you should not be proud of what you post. Sharing your creativity or moments that bring you genuine joy is a form of being true to yourself. My concern is when posts are influenced by what people believe is expected from others. The issue, in other words, is when people remain inauthentic to themselves in order to meet societal expectations.

Pushing against what has been deemed expected of oneself is hard, but it is necessary if we want to break free from the loop current social media algorithms have placed us in. Post when you want, share what you are proud of, just make sure that at the end of the day your main motive for what you do is based on yourself, and not a looming expectation from someone else.

Grace “Gray” Reed is a Sophomore magazine, news and digital journalism major. Their column appears bi-weekly. They can be reached at greed04@syr.edu.

Published on September 27, 2022 at 10:34 pm