06
F E AT U R E FEB. 16, 2018
BY JENNA WANG
THE SOCIAL MEDIA TRAP
The most popular social media today connect billions of people worldwide, with each account filled with photos, videos and lifestyles of each individual person. While these accounts give people an insight into the everyday lives of others, it may be increasingly hard for the millenial age to see the reality behind the profile perfection that society demands today.
J
udging from her Instagram profile, Caroline Young ’19 appears to live a charming life. With a passion for photography, she takes pictures of her friends and her travels, hiking down paths to arrive at sprawling glaciers and forests. She is supported by her loving siblings and parents, interacts with her goats at the family-owned Lucky Star Farm, and receives many positive comments from friends and followers. On top of all of that, she has plans to start an Instagram page that models Humans of New York, hoping to tell the stories of the people of Iowa City. However, Young’s internal view of social media is much more concealed. Her self-esteem especially flares when she compares herself to the posts she sees. “If I see people at a party or hanging out with friends and I don’t have anything going on, then I feel kind of unincluded, so that definitely makes me feel like people don’t want me around,” Young said. “They kind of make it out to seem like they’re doing this stuff all the time and I don’t do [that], so I guess it made me com-