Since the mid-late 1990s social media has been cohabiting with our society resulting in a number of problems that have reshaped our way of life. Early social media websites included six degrees which launched in 1997 and then the first blogging sites available in 1999 which was then closely followed by sites such as BEBO, Myspace, LinkedIn, Youtube and Flickr gaining acknowledgement in the early 2000s. In 2006 Facebook and twitter took over the social media world; now more than 1 billion people use Facebook on a daily bases, equating in problems such as cyberbullying.

September of 2015 snapchat filters where launched and quickly became a sensation around the world. Filters are extremely popular within the younger generations. The layers digitally layer a mask on to the face and therefore allow the user to transform into a whole new person. The filter acts as a persona that users, use to hide away from the outside world and away from judgment. Even though this is a fun and harmless laugh people can take things too far until it is no longer a laugh. Social media has bought a lot of good to our lives but there are also a lot of problems that come along with social media, a huge issue is the fact you don’t know who is behind the screen. People use this anonymous factor to their advantage, they think they are invincible and therefore all of their actions follow this belief. Some people use social media as a page to insult and ridicule others in order to a make themselves feel better. Keeping this factor in mind just goes to shows why people stress so much about their online appearance.

Snapchat filters act as a barrier. As a girl, for example, you can look rough as anything but once you’ve got that golden princess look layered onto your face you look a million dollars. In effect it’s hiding what you consider your imperfections to be away from everyone else so they believe your a confident and strong individual when in reality, you’re extremely self conscience. I cannot leave the house, let alone upload a photo onto social media without my makeup, however, with a snapchat filter I feel like I am save. Our society is based on perfection in all aspects of the way we look. There are so many pressures from all angles of daily life and in recent years social media has become the biggest pressure. Social media is essentially a cyber world obsessed with likes, shares and perfection, for some this has become to much to handle.

Depression has been linked to many social media sites that are caused mainly from what other people post online. Looking at other people’s ‘lives’ causes jealously as we are constantly bombarded with pictures of celebs, what’s its face’s dinner, your friends ‘perfect’ relationship and even someones night on the ‘sesh’. Some people post things that suggest they have an amazing life, filled with fun people, good looks and money. This is a lie that in one way or another we are all guilty of. We all exaggerate online, we all change and we all fall behind the persona we have created. So in a world with the Kardashians can we truly be happy?