In today’s world, social media feels almost unavoidable. It has become the place where people share photos, stories, and updates about their lives. For many, it’s the main way to stay connected. Yet I have chosen not to use it. For me, the reason is simple: social media creates a world that feels more artificial than real.

The Illusion of Happiness

When you scroll through a typical feed, you see smiling faces, beautiful vacation snapshots, carefully posed family portraits, and success stories. What you rarely see are the moments of sadness, disappointment, or struggle. In other words, social media encourages people to show only the good sides of their lives and to hide the rest.

But that is not how life really works. Life is not a highlight reel; it is a mix of ups and downs, of joy and pain, of growth and failure. By cutting out half of the story, social media paints a picture that looks perfect, but isn’t honest. This illusion of constant happiness creates unrealistic expectations, not only for those posting, but also for those watching.

The Pressure to Perform

This constant stream of happy, polished images creates pressure. People feel they must always appear cheerful, successful, or put together. Even when they are hurting inside, they may still post a smiling photo just to maintain the image. Over time, this doesn’t just hide reality, it distorts it.

Viewers start to compare their real, messy lives to someone else’s carefully curated online version. A person sitting at home after a hard day might feel inadequate when scrolling through pictures of someone else’s glamorous vacation. What we forget is that the vacation photo is one tiny moment, chosen from dozens of others, and likely edited before posting. The comparison is unfair, but it still has the power to make us feel less than enough.

A World of Choices and Filters

Social media creates another world, one where people carefully choose what to show and what to hide. Every post is a decision: share this, but not that. Highlight this achievement, but keep the failure silent. Show the dinner at a fancy restaurant, but not the nights of eating instant noodles at home.

This is why social media feels artificial to me. It is not a mirror of real life; it is a stage. And when everyone is performing, it becomes less about truth and more about appearances. Relationships built in this space can feel shallow because they are often based on what is seen, not what is real.

Living Without Social Media

That is why I choose not to use it. I would rather live in the real world, where people laugh and cry, succeed and fail, love and hurt. Conversations face-to-face, phone calls with friends, unplanned moments of connection, these are the ways I prefer to stay in touch. They might not be as glamorous or instant, but they feel more genuine.

Life is richer when we accept all of it, not just the highlights. The unfiltered, imperfect moments are often the ones that teach us the most: the arguments that help us understand each other, the failures that make us stronger, the quiet days that remind us of peace. None of these moments may look “Instagram-worthy,” but they are the ones that make life real.