In today's time, it seems that we are more connected than ever before but on the inside we are more alone than ever before. I say this because the first thing we do every day after waking up is to pick up our phone and see who has gone where, what they have played how successful they are, and all this flashes before our eyes in a few seconds, and from there, the invisible comparison of our lives with others begins. I myself am not exempt from this. There have been many days when my day was going well. In my free time, I went on social media and saw that someone had got a new job or someone was traveling abroad or someone was having the best time of their life, and in an instant, my own happiness disappeared somewhere.
The biggest problem of this generation is perhaps that we start comparing our lives with the lives of others even if we don't want to, but the struggles, fatigue, and uncertainty that we are going through in real life are rarely seen on social media. We all like to show the beautiful parts of our lives to everyone, but even after realizing it, we unknowingly start thinking why can't I or why my life is not like this. I have asked myself these questions many times, I want to move in my own way, I want to move at my own pace, but this digital noise around me does not give me that opportunity and will not give it.
Another thing I have deeply felt is that social media now seriously influences our opinions, just like before we used to make decisions based on our feelings, but now I often see that the number of likes or comments on our pictures or videos posted on Facebook is controlling our thoughts. Again, many times, even if we like something, the thought of what people will think comes to mind if we post it. Gradually, the space to think in our own way is getting narrowed. I understand that I could have continued without this pressure, but it has become a big part of me now and it is really difficult to avoid it in this era.
In the midst of this difficulty, I am learning one thing that living in your own way does not mean pleasing everyone. Sometimes putting down your phone, spending time with yourself, doing things that make you feel good, and giving importance to your small achievements, these may be the real peace. As a common person of this generation, I think it is difficult but not impossible to live our own lives in the age of social media. If we are aware and set our own boundaries and we can learn to live our own lives again.