Are we using social media to feed our ego?

HOW often do you check your social media profiles? Once a post has been shared, do you log on to check how many “Likes” you get?

Two weeks ago, the story of an 18-year-old Australian Instagram celebrity Essena O’Neill went viral.

She proclaimed that the life portrayed through her Instagram images was not authentic, mostly staged.

In her own words, her images were “contrived perfection made to get attention.”

In the move to raise awareness, her account was renamed to "Social Media Is Not Real Life” and changed the captions of her Instagram posts to tell the true stories behind her postings.

“It's a system based on social approval, likes, validation, in views, success in followers. It's perfectly orchestrated self-absorbed judgement,” she wrote.

In one of my earlier articles, “Is my life Instagram-worthy?” I mused over how aesthetically pleasing images have become a socially acceptable way to self-expression.

A point that I did not touch on was how, in the race to seek social approval (gaining likes and followers), we have become inclined to over-sharing every, single, thing.

A study in 2013 by the University of Michigan deduced that frequent use of social media might be linked to narcissism.

Take me for example. As much as it is embarrassing to admit, I do get a boost of healthy self-esteem based on the number of 'Likes' I get on social media.

I once hinted to a guy that his “Likes” mattered to me, which should not have been a big deal to begin with.

In hindsight, it finally hits me — I might have been bitten by the bug called obsession for social media validation.

“Here’s what I think, feel and do.”

“This is what I like, who I love and where I am.”

Most people are doing it for fear of missing out (“#FOMO” in social media lingo). I have been doing it too.

I think it is high time for me to take a good look at my social media behaviour and start living a little bit more outside of it.

It is easier said than done for a power user like myself, but I believe a social media detox will worth its while for the long run.

The last thing I want is to ruin a good relationship with petty matter such as “have you 'Liked' my post?”

Don’t you think so?

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The views expressed here are strictly those of the author's and does not necessarily reflect Astro AWANI's.