Is a Pinterest-perfect Lifestyle the Answer to Happiness?

Waking up, drinking iced water, working out, journaling, lathering your face with the best quality skincare, and eating the healthiest of breakfasts is what being “that girl” entails—and that’s only before the rest of the world has opened their eyes.

The viral trend, “that girl,” is meant to inspire one to ‘become your best self’ and promote peak wellness by encouraging an immensely ‘productive’ lifestyle. Beginning in the summer of 2021, numerous people, the majority women, started posting Pinterest and Tik Tok content with titles like “how to be ‘that girl’ in 2022” or “things you’ll find in my ‘that girl’ apartment.”

Scrolling through Pinterest and Tik Tok and seeing so many of these videos could give the impression that this year-old trend is as positive and productive as it claims. After all, eating more vegetables, making time for self-care, even being more organized, are all lifestyle choices that can promote one’s overall health and well being. And for a lot of people, seeing how their influencers make these lifestyle choices through Tik Tok videos could give them the motivation they need to make similar healthy choices so they can also be the best version of themselves.

However, this trend also sends the clear message that viewers can only become “that girl” if they copy everything they see in these videos and make all the same choices, which is neither feasible for everyone, nor very realistic. It also implies that, if you do not participate, you are the opposite of what “that girl” is—unproductive, unhealthy, and not up to par with society’s standards.

Although this trend isn’t inherently toxic or damaging, it can take a toll on someone’s mental health if they can’t fit into the green juice, yoga, well-rested-butawake-at-the-ass-crack-of-dawn lifestyle, for whatever reason. With social media being increasingly incorporated into people’s every day lives, too often are they also comparing their own lives with those they see being posted across social media platforms. The problem is that most of what is being posted is not real, so when people compare themselves to these posts, it can lead to disappointment, low self-esteem, depression, and unrealistic expectations.

By Serena Sanchez

“It can even be stressful for someone because maybe they will try to live that type of life but find themselves to be overwhelmed,” Jasmine Contreras, a senior at California State University, Dominguez Hills, said. “Personally, I would have a difficult time trying to be ‘that girl’ and it would affect my mental health. I already struggle with insecurities and knowing that I have to live up to this expectation can be scary and new to me. I would rather do things that make me feel good personally and not do all the things that are expected of me as a girl.”

Trends are exactly that, something that has become popular because everyone is taking part in it, in some way or another. Trying to perfect your life, especially because your favorite influencer is doing just that, can alter your life, and not necessarily in a good way.

“I think it can hinder someone’s mental health both positively and negatively,” Catalina Garcia, a senior at CSU Dominguez Hills, said. “For me personally, it made it worse because I felt I was living a lie. I am not the perfectly clean and put-together person that ‘that girl’ is.”

This trend isn’t exactly practical or even financially feasible for those who commute to work, or who might be full-time students or parents, but instead seems more suited for individuals with a more flexible schedule, like those who work from home and can work out, shower, eat, and read a book before 10 a.m.

“I tried to do the vegan/vegetarian diet to be healthier and workout every day while doing a full school workload,” Garcia said. “It just didn’t fit my lifestyle and the way I function. I think it just all depends on the lifestyle you live.”

Time management isn’t the only aspect of this aesthetic that comes off unattainable, it’s the individuals making the videos. Almost every one- to three-minute video is done by those who are skinny, attractive, white, and with access to the finest of things. Whether conscious or not, this not only invites comparisons but also looks like a trend not meant for everyone.

Jasmine Wallis of the Fashion Journal says, “That girl is the epitome of health and wealth. That girl is attractive but in an effortless and natural way. And the algorithm tells us that with a little hard work, you can become that girl, too.”

Social media is a never-ending rabbit hole of deceased trends and aesthetics that have come and gone, and are inevitably thrown out by those who use them. There’s always a new diet fad or workout expert on YouTube that will promise to help you lose weight, and, though it has become the norm, it’s exhausting attempting to keep up with the latest, well, anything.

“It is so overwhelming to me because it is constantly changing. One day there’s a certain lifestyle trend going on and then it dies down and moves to the next,” Contreras said. “You’re just constantly trying to keep up and it can really burn you out. It really makes you question how your life is supposed to be and if you’re doing enough or not.”

This conveyor belt of new trends and ways to better your daily life can be immensely helpful and might bring attention to things you never considered previously. But some diet, exercise or lifestyle choices are not necessarily the best options for some people, especially for those who don’t have the time or economic resources to emulate these trends. A potential way to adjust your everyday lifestyle is to simply do what’s best for yourself instead of becoming overwhelmed with trying to follow every self-improvement trend out there.

“Take a step back and observe what is working and what is not working for you,” Garcia said. “Keep what is working and adjust what isn’t. It’s okay to try new things and admit they aren’t working. If they’re not, move on and try something else. To figure out what works and what doesn’t work, you have to endure some failures. Life is about trials and tribulations.”

Getting inspiration from social media trends might help people live their best lives, maybe even become more healthy, but no one else really knows what’s best for you. So while Pinterest and Tik Tok can give people ideas, not following those suggestions doesn’t make anyone less than those who do, and they can still be “that girl” by simply being themselves.

The Unsocial Media: How Online Apps Rearrange Our Social Experience

By Lloyd Bravo

It is not easy being a parent to an 8-monthold baby boy, while working 40 hours a week and balancing a full-time student schedule with the intentions of earning a Bachelor’s Degree this Spring. My dense schedule has left me exhausted and lethargic to the point that when I finally have time for myself with my wife, going to the store for essentials or making dinner is an insurmountable endeavor that neither of us unwilling to take. However, thanks to our smartphones and the world wide web, these pesky chores are relegated to a button push and a delivery fee.

There is a certain luxury that comes from picking up your phone while comfortably laying on the couch, half paying attention to whatever television rerun is on in the background, ordering dinner delivered to your door through an app and not having to converse with anyone the entire time.

This modern convenience has demonstrated the effectiveness of our current technology as instant gratification becomes the key metric of success in any service app. This is due to a neurological response as our spending habits are not rational but emotional driven and online apps know how to manipulate our psyche to always want things now.

According to an article from BigThink.com entitled, “Instant Gratification: The Neuroscience of Impulse Buying,” author Stephanie Johnson explains, “Stress triggers the release of cortisol, a hormone that helps us respond quickly and effectively to threats in our environment. In the modern and developed world, the stressors we face often are not physical but psychological, and businesses capitalize on this.”

However, these types of services are also detrimental to our ability to develop social skills as the reliance on digital applications can make individuals more antisocial, which was seen during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Doordash has been seeing an increase in revenue since 2020. The food delivery service app has been used by 20 million consumers, 450,000 merchants and made 816 million deliveries in 2020 alone, according to Morley Swindells of Earthweb

In

his article, “Doordash

Statistics: How Many People Use Doordash.”

The current trend has not subsided as the pandemic has led to an increase in hermit-like behavior that has quickly become the new normal within our current society. Regardless of services and delivery fees that increase the price of standard Taco Bell order from $10 to $25, the convenience charges outweigh having to start a car, and waiting in the drive-thru line.

Tiana Williams is a student at California State University, Long Beach, who has continually utilized the Doordash service to help her quell the nuisance of picking up her fast food.

“It is not the most responsible way to use my money, but I enjoy ordering food and having it at my door while I do other things around the house or if I just want to relax,” Williams said.

Williams also suffers from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), a neurological disorder that is a form of chronic pain that lasts indefinitely within her arms and torso. Services like Doordash help her mitigate extremely sensitive nerves from further pain caused by loud noises, wind and movement.

Although the disorder has been detrimental to her way of life, Williams can enjoy her favorite foods with minimal discomfort.

“It has been a struggle, but it is nice to have a comforting meal sent to me while I rest and get to watch my favorite shows uninterrupted,” Williams said.

In the last 25 years since its creation, Amazon has become the biggest ecommerce platform on the planet. The online store has about 213 million US visitors a month with a net revenue of $11.59 billion dollars, according to Christo Petrov of TechJury.

The worldwide distribution of home improvement products, with more than 12 million products to choose from, the need for essential products by leaving the house to a brick-and-mortar store is almost obsolete.

Kristina Williams is a new mother who has used the Amazon ecommerce platform in order to save time that she uses to take care of her newborn son. “It has become a lifesaver in most instances since I have very limited time to do anything else after I put my baby to sleep,” Williams said.

Although William prefers to go to the store in-person, having a baby complicates trips or even trying to find time alone to go, since she is still being cautious during the ongoing pandemic.

“I would like to go to Target or the grocery store, but it’s hard to find time and have someone watch my baby boy since I don’t want to risk his exposure to COVID and want to keep him safe,” Williams said. “That is why I like Amazon to get quick essentials that I need for the house.”

The convivence of selecting food and products from an app has also given that same ease to the world of dating. The methods of confronting individuals in-person and becoming vulnerable by asking strangers to hang out at the movies has become a relic of the past.

Dating has never been easier with apps like Tinder and Bumble that have taken away the rigors of first-person impressions and quantified them with filtered pictures with brief descriptions of likes or dislikes. In 2021, the dating app industry made over $5 billion dollars in revenue and has over 323 million users across all the most popular platforms according to David Curry of Business of Apps in his article, “Dating App Revenue and Usage Statistics.” However, these apps that are more like couch potato speed dating and have been used to replace a form of physical validation. In a 2017 study of Tinder, over 70 percent of users said they had never met up with one of their matches in real life, and 44 percent said they used the app purely for

“confidence-boosting

procrastination.”

In her article, “Swipe Right for Loneliness: On the Gamifications of Dating Apps,” Nancy Jo Sales discusses the perils of addiction in dating apps and how the quick rush of acceptance can lead to unfulfilling relationships. “After your brain gets that little high of a dopamine spike, an inevitable dip follows; there’s a low; and so, it isn’t surprising that more than half of singles report feeling lonely after swiping on dating apps,” Sales writes.

The utilization of service apps has been a reactionary move that was normalized during the lockdown months and early stages of the emerging Coronavirus in 2020. However, this convenience has led to those reluctant to participate in society even more anxious to join as a need to commingle has been seen as unnecessary with our current trend of online services.

Kira M. Newman in her article, “How Pandemic Fatigue Has Made Us Antisocial,” describes that “Loneliness, rather than prompting us to connect, actually makes us withdraw, according to research. We start to feel unworthy of our relationships, worried that people are judging us or don’t enjoy being around us.”

The purpose of service apps is to ease the stress of everyday life and enhance one’s ability to thrive from the comfort of our own homes but they can also inhibit our ability to socialize. These service apps and the instant gratification lifestyle they afford may benefit the already introverted, but they can also discourage others from emerging from their cocoons to rejoin society because they make it easy not to have to.