Growing up is hard. So hard. I really really wouldn’t want to be a teenager again. But when Dove Self Esteem Project challenged me to take on the social media routines from the 13-23 age group for one full day to gain insight into the social media habits and highlight the pressures our children face I couldn’t say no. It is something that worries me, a lot. I have four children who use social media on a daily basis.
With Instagram, Twitter and Facebook all open on my laptop and what’s app on my phone I was connected to the world all day, no chance of me missing anything. Never mind that everytime my lap top pinged I stopped what I was doing (deadlines, deadlines..) to check what the latest piece of information was about. Needless to say I have been running around like a headless chicken trying to catch up this morning. I have no idea how any revision or homework gets done under these circumstances.
Followers on my Instagram, Twitter and Facebook feeds may have been surprised to see a few photos of me, something I sadly don’t feel too comfortable doing. I was encouraged to use hashtags to basically beg for likes on my photos.
This made me feel…
- vulnerable
- open to ridicule
- self-conscious
- obsessive about how many likes I was or wasn’t getting
I considered taking my photo down when I didn’t have many likes, worried that I looked stupid, or really awful.
I’ve seen my daughters’ friends tag their photos with hashtags such as ‘sxxy’ and ‘bxxbs’ whilst in skimpy bikinis all in the name of ‘likes’. It’s scary that the need for recognition is so great. On average girls are posting 7 photos of themselves on Instagram a week.
Isn’t he just the cutest dog ever! #nolikesneeded I can’t have any hugs today if I don’t get 50 likes because apparently 24% of 13-23 yr olds would rather 50 likes than a hug. That makes me want to cry! #doveselfesteem #malteseterrier #dogstagram #likes4likes #tags4likes #cute A photo posted by cherishedbyme (@cherishedbyme) on
The Dove Self Esteem Project is a great resource for parents, mentors and teachers, their educational tools which are proven to boost self-esteem and increase body confidence in young people can be downloaded here.
This is a sponsored post, but all opinions are my own on this very important issue.
Very true, you look beautiful lovely x
Too kind, but thank you Susan xxx