is everything for show?
in my Youtube recommended videos there was a video titled Gen Z's Unique Oversocialization. I did not watch it because I would very much like to stop feeling sorry for myself and being born in the time that I was, but the title stuck with me.
this subject has been rehashed a million times over, but my generation is simply obsessed with the looks of things. it's only natural, we grew up in the birth of social media and the internet. how could you have screens shoved in your face your whole life and not care about how you appear to others? but we just care so deeply.
I'm on Pinterest (lol) looking at journals and there are videos from teen-20 something girls posting their "brain dump" journals and they are so meticulously crafted and planned that it just stunned me completely. why are we putting on this facade that we're so naturally and effortlessly creative, that our thoughts can be so beautifully illustrated and decorated, that we just intrinsically, without any effort can do... this?
and it's all the same. photo dumps, twitter feeds, twitter likes, tiktok reposts, your following, your ratio, your captions, your stories, everything. everything is so high effort. you can't be effortless without first considering how you might be perceived as corny or too earnest or just generally uncool. everyone is keeping up with the Joneses and it is exhausting. even the little personal things like journaling!
and it can make you feel so insecure. like, am I not journaling correctly? should I be using specific color themes for each month, scrapbook my daily life, break out the brush pens for a header? is it ugly to just write?
like that is so stupid!!!! and it's so real and so easy to slip into online. why are we all in competition with each other? what is this contest to have the most beautiful thoughts???? it is mindblowing. and honestly, discouraging!
idk. the world disappoints me sometimes. society is disappointing. the well-being of my generation is disheartening. I wish we had the privilege of living in a time where being genuine was normal. I hate the layers upon layers of irony we clothe ourselves in. let's just smile and laugh, you guys :/