Social media used to be a fun way to connect with friends, but now it feels like a competition. Every like or comment seems to decide how popular someone is. For a lot of people my age,
how many likes a post gets can affect how they feel about themselves. We start to care more
about what’s on our screen than what’s happening in real life.
According to a 2023 study from the Pew Research Center, almost 60% of teens say they feel
pressure to look good or act a certain way online. That pressure makes people post what they
think others want to see, not what’s real. Someone might look happy in a picture, but off camera,
they could be sad or stressed. Social media makes it easy to compare our lives to others, even
when we know most of it is fake or filtered.
It’s not just about how things look—it’s how it makes us feel inside. According to research
from the University of California, Los Angeles, getting likes on social media activates the same
part of the brain as winning a game or eating your favorite food. That feeling makes people want
more likes, so they keep checking their phones and posting again and again. It’s easy to get stuck
in that cycle, and it can start to control how we see ourselves.
When we focus too much on likes, we forget how to enjoy real life. People don’t talk face-to-face as much anymore. At events or parties, everyone’s holding up their phone instead of being in the moment. It’s like we’re living for the post instead of the memory. Some even delete pictures that don’t get enough likes, as if a number decides whether something was worth sharing.
Social media isn’t all bad, though. It helps us stay connected, spread awareness, and share our creativity. It can make people feel seen and supported. But the problem starts when we let social
media decide our self-worth. Our value shouldn’t come from strangers on the internet. It should
come from who we are and how we treat people in real life.
We also need to be more honest with ourselves about how much time we spend online. If hours
are going by while we scroll through TikTok or Instagram, that’s time we can’t get back. Instead
of worrying about likes, we could be using that time to focus on school, hobbies, or just doing
things that make us happy without needing an audience. Sometimes, logging off is the best way
to find peace and remember that life doesn’t need a filter to be worth living.
It’s important to take breaks sometimes. Try putting your phone down, spending time outside,
or hanging out with friends without posting about it. Those moments matter even if no one else
sees them. The likes and views fade fast, but real memories last much longer. Next time you post something, ask yourself, “Would this still matter if nobody liked it?” If the answer is yes, that’s what real life feels like — and that’s what’s worth holding on to.
