In this day and age, especially as teenagers, social media has an abundant and active presence in each of our day to day lives. Whether it pertains to food, academics, beauty, or athletics, we are constantly being fed with everyone’s opinions on the best way to do things. In reality, the constant noise is more harmful than supportive.
Constant comparison online is unavoidable and beyond detrimental to the mental health of teens. If you are not doing things a certain way or looking the way the majority of others do, you can be subject to unfair judgment, “FOMO”, or just feel like you are not good enough.
Not to mention, the information circling around the internet is far from credible. Just because your favorite TikToker swears by a certain product or diet doesn’t make it the end-all be-all. Most of the time the person making the video is not qualified to be talking about the topic whatsoever. Sure, not all advice that you find will be damaging or inaccurate, but doing your own research is extremely important.
Instead of trying to reach a certain aesthetic, it would be far more beneficial to do some self reflection on what truly works for you. It is important to see through all of the trends that constantly circulate and realize that there are plenty of ways to find realistic and healthy habits.
So, in an age of “OOTD’s” and “WIEIAD’s”, we should be challenging ourselves. Acknowledge the fact that while these habits and looks might work for others, it is completely okay if it doesn’t work for us. Individuality is what makes life so beautiful, and it’s imperative that we embrace this in our teenage years in order to flourish for the years to come.