Social media has been a growing part of our society for almost a decade. Outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr have given people the ability to post and blog on their everyday life, along with connecting stories to others around the world and in your phone contacts.

With every post, every tweet, every picture it tells the story of someone’s life. But the problem with that is, it isn’t their real life.

Have you ever clicked on someone’s profile, someone you may or may not know, and you try to get an idea of who they are based on what they post? That’s how people try to get to know one another, peoples info is blasted all over their page. But how well can you trust what these people write about themselves?

When you interview for a job, the employer checks your social media to get an idea of who you are. Many people use social media to build a structure of how they want to be viewed, but that is why people hide behind what they say; to convince people that they are who others think they are. Is it real? It is really who they are? No it isn’t, it is a facade.

When we view others pages, we say we know who that person is, but do you truly know the person behind the screen? It is easier for people to post and act like how they wish they could be, but it is almost impossible for someone to post, consistently, things that they truly feel.

When people post pictures of themselves, or of what they are doing, that might be them in the camera, but is it posed? Before people take a selfie, they fix themselves a little bit: fix the hair, check the make up, find a filter or do maintenance work before pictures. Maybe it’s due to their lack of self esteem, or maybe they just want to look good. But people post pictures of themselves at their best.

It is out of the ordinary to post a picture with no makeup, messy hair, no filters, no edits, and without a purpose, or at their worst. It isn’t hard to understand why either. People are heavily judged others on media, so posting that random, heart felt picture of yourself just eating breakfast with the caption “starting off the day” would get you attacked on media. As much as that seems farfetched, it shows others who you really are and one’s true colors.

People are terrified to be judged by others for genuine posts or photos. While it is a problem, it’s been established as a social norm. Before anyone posts something, a picture or a status, there is an imaginary checklist people go through in order to optimize themselves. So that they can look like they are at their best. When people actually express themselves on social media, it is like they are doing it in a protest, as if posting unedited and uncensored photos or posts of your life is an abnormality. Why can’t someone honestly post what they want without having to worry about the repercussions? It’s because our society doesn’t work like that, especially not on the internet.

No one can go onto someone’s account and expect that what is written there is true. The person could seem like the most popular, sad, happy, energetic, carefree or depressed person you know, and that is because that is what they want you to think they feel.

In reality, we live in a society that will chew you up and spread your info like wild fire. If you are the person brave enough to truly not care how others view you and post things that are important to you, or express who you are, than you are the solution to the harmful effects these medias have on our society. If you can’t post a selfie without filters, or making sure you look ‘good enough’, then perhaps you are living behind your screen. If you post things that will draw sympathy from others because you are sad, or are too afraid to be judged based on who you really are, then maybe you are hiding from yourself and using your media outlet as a SOS. That is the problem, when you aren’t yourself on your profile, people won’t know when to trust you or who you really are. . Social media is about expression, connections, and life, and you are nothing else but your life.

Next time you post, really think about why you are posting it; is it really you, or is it who you want people to think you are?