Dear Social Media,

You have ruined this generation.

You make teenagers and grown adults feel disgusted with themselves.

You have become a platform of judgment. People are constantly comparing themselves to others because of you.
You have helped break trust and boundaries. You cross so many lines.

I know as a sixteen-year-old girl in this day and age, I’m constantly worried about what people are saying and thinking of me. And a lot of that comes from you. Some would say that social media is their way of escaping and relaxing, but I couldn’t agree less. I open TikTok or Instagram and I’m immediately greeted with other people’s posts to look at. I instantly start examining them and breaking them apart to make myself feel better. And not to say that something is wrong with them in the slightest, but to say that you have instilled a need in teens to degrade others, so they view themselves in a higher or better rank.

I start to become so worried about how many likes I’ll get on a post or who’s going to view my story. It takes up my every waking second the moment it’s uploaded. I feel the need for others’ validation because you have made it so that’s all we ever see and look at. We feel like we have to keep up with the “trends” and always dress and look a certain way. Even if we don’t like the trends. If we stray from what you say we should be we are seen as different and not in a good way. You make me feel like I will never be enough. Like I have no value as a person if I don’t look like a celebrity or have a certain body.

I use you to pass the time thinking it will help me “unwind”, but no. You make me feel like I will never be enough because of the image you put in my head of what the “Perfect Girl” should look like. And I’m not that. And in all reality, I DON’T want to be that! I want to be unique and my own person, but can’t I? You instill a sense of insecurity that is unimaginably hard to overcome.

You ruin relationships with family, friends, couples, and ourselves. A lack of trust is formed in couples with the thought of “What are they hiding?” or “Do I need to go through their phone?”. You break apart relationships with how easy it is to hide and delete information. One click and it’s gone. You allow an unsafe environment to form.

You’re hateful and have ruined my whole perspective on myself. Why do I feel worse after just opening my phone? Why am I not good enough for you? Why do I feel I have to be more adequate when I’m not even inadequate?

From,
Someone who just wants to feel like she’s enough