Like your pic and like yourself as a person.

I was browsing through The Onion and came across an article about a woman who had almost reached a positive self-identity when she decided to rejoin social media. This then led her back into a downward spiral where she was on Facebook looking through wedding pictures and panicking over how many ‘likes’ she hadn’t received. I understand that The Onion is not factual and that it’s meant purely for entertainment purposes, but this got me thinking about the social media that we had talked about in class and brought about a good question. Why don’t we ‘like’ our own pictures?

            When I first say it I know that it sounds ridiculous. Obviously you like your own Facebook picture if you put it online and by clicking ‘like’ it makes you seem conceited. But does it really? To me it says that you are confident enough in yourself that you don’t depend on others to determine the quality of this picture. By waiting for others to reinforce your confidence, you are putting your self-confidence in the hands of others rather than taking control of your own happiness.

            Let’s say that your picture gets 2 likes. Most people would feel defeated and depressed that their friends obviously scrolled through their newsfeed and ignored this post. However, there are a million reasons someone could have not ‘liked’ a post. Maybe they didn’t get on social media that day or perhaps it didn’t pop up at the moment they were online. These are just more examples of how ‘likes’ are based on chance and something that is uncontrollable by the individual.

            So who cares if you ‘like’ your own post or picture? You should like your own picture when you post it and if you like it again when it is on social media, then make it public. We’re always told to love ourselves and this begins with liking ourselves. So go ahead, give yourself a pat on the back and a ‘like’ on your pic.  

The Onion: "Woman Who Had Almost Formed Healthy Sense Of Self Rejoins Social Media"