The Social Media Burnout
Remember the time when Facebook was all about connecting with old friends, and Instagram was all about uploading random pictures without the fear of it not being too “instagrammable”.
I remember Facebook/Instagram being my entertainment source. I’d come back from school, and check these platforms just to connect with my friends and check out their new pictures. That was it! The sole purpose of social media was to connect people with their friends and family. I don’t remember ever feeling drained after checking my feed back in the day.
And then came the “Influencers”. They were hyped up for their branded content and flat-lays, and suddenly our feeds started losing the natural, unbothered feel and transitioned into what people like to call an “aesthetically pleasing” feed. This was still okay, because only the influencers were doing it, so we still had some original raw content left on our feeds. However, out of nowhere, everyone started creating cohesive graphics for their profiles, and within minutes everyone was a Graphic Designer/Fashion Blogger/Make up artist.
Then came the Stories, IGTV, TikTok, Reels and what not. And the whole social media FOMO made people post on every place possible. We have reached a phase where everyone has a content plan for their profile, be it a business one or a private one. There’s no spontaneous, in the moment content at all, which is sad because everything feels so staged and unreal. Don’t get me wrong, content planning is important (for business profiles), but you’ve got to have some unplanned content in between your feed, where you try to connect with people instead of just pushing your products and services in their faces.
Lately, I’ve been watching a lot of videos on TikTok, and I really don’t understand why people are making Iced Coffee and sharing what they eat in a day and getting like a 100,000 views. What in the name of content is that?!?
I stay on TikTok for sometime, watch those behind the scenes of small businesses, and I feel really happy for them, but then I shut the app and feel bad for myself. I go into this whole zone of thinking that I’m just not doing enough.
And this is the real issue, we could be doing extremely well in our lives, but social media tends to make you feel like you are just not doing enough.
Social media is still connecting people, more to brands and less to their friends. I see more branded posts on my feed than my friend’s pictures, and it is really annoying. The fact that I work in this field makes it even worse for me. At the end of the day, I just want to watch some unfiltered, unbranded, raw content on my feed. Is it too much to ask for? I guess not.
