The beautiful appearance can be deceptive
Why do pictures on social media always look beautiful?
Influencers, your friends and maybe even you yourself only show the positive sides of your life on social media: the best holidays, the chicest outfit, the super summer beach body. But this is quite often a trick: On holiday, only the most beautiful corners are photographed and filters are often used for selfies or the pictures are edited afterwards. Crowded beaches, tousled hair or bad moods are rarely seen on social media.
Why is that?
The pretence of a perfect life generates a lot of likes on social media. And these make you happy, at least for a moment, in a similar way to praise or a piece of chocolate. Influencers can also earn more money with lots of likes and followers, as this makes them more interesting for advertising. In other words, companies pay them to advertise their products in their posts and videos.
Other studies also show that influencers are often important role models for young people, offering opportunities for identification or projection.
Further information and tips on this topic can be found at jugendmedien.ch, for example.
Pro Juventute has more information on the mixture of personal contributions and advertising by influencers.
And what does that do to us?
Sure, it's fun to look at beautiful pictures or videos. You have the feeling of being part of the other person's life, you can get new outfit ideas or dream yourself away to great places. However, researchers have discovered that it can also lead to problems. For example, many children and young people are dissatisfied with their bodies. This feeling can increase if they constantly see flawless pictures of people on social media. It can also reinforce the impression that their own life is boring compared to the lives of other people.
Always remember the following
The perfect social media world does not reflect real life. We should keep reminding ourselves of this, especially when we see another particularly great picture that might even make us envious. In reality, things don't always run smoothly in other people's lives either and nobody always looks great!
