Everywhere we go, everything we set our eyes on, we immediately are greeted by someone trying to capture the moment on his/her phone. Am I that someone? On many occasions yes I am. I am guilty of spending too much time on my phone, of taking way too many photos, of wanting to share my daily routines with my friends. I can only speak for myself when I say I get a sense of joy out of sharing my simple yet pleasurable life with those I care about. Although, my social media is limited to mostly people I know well and looking back on my posts I truly feel that alhamdulillah Allah has blessed me with a wonderful life. I am a visual person and for me, looking back at my social media I am reminded to be thankful of how blessed I truly am.

However I’ve realized that in recent years and especially with the younger generations, taking pictures and sharing them has become a form of competition. A competition of who has the more lavish life, who has the most friends, who owns more brands and who travels more… so here I ask the question what has social media become to those people? Is it making them happier or is it making them more anxious? And the most thing I wonder about is has it truly become a competition?

Unfortunately today there’s a fine line between sharing and boasting. A fine line between having a good life and showing a good life. A fine line between what’s personal and what isn’t. It makes me sad sometimes to see that my culture that was honored by its conservativeness has suddenly become a spectacle for all to see on social media. Weddings have become spectacles, trips have become boastings, personal belongings have become something to show and compare with others. I fear that the happiness my social media gives me may in fact be making other people miserable.

So this is something to think about. What is social media to you? What do you think it is selling you? Are you gaining or are you losing with social media? What does your social media content reflect about you and has your life become a visual reminder to be grateful or has it become a spectacle displayed purely to compete? Think about it…