Social Media & Depression

In a discussion with a friend, she asked me what I thought about teens today and how they're influenced by their friends (and adults) who are posting heavily doctored photos of fake experiences. (She referred to them as "fictitious friends," as these people's manufactured lives truly don't exist.) It is her belief that those kids are believing that what they see through social media is what they should aspire to, and it drives her a bit mad. She wanted to know my feelings on the topic.

We're all creations of history in the sense that past experiences and society's ideas have formed us, and kids/teens are formed more so by their surroundings.

Many have an idea of the perfect life; many TV shows and movies show what a good life is like, and so people try to mimic that. The problem is it's an ideal and it's fake, therefore you will always carry the idea of something that could be improved in your life. This can lead to many young people today feeling that they've failed, and they can thus feel sad and depressed because of it. 

Kids these days, also in the past but more so now, get so much information constantly, partially because they also seek it out. They get more information than they should have, and they do not have time to process it all and so the info is taken at face value, which can twist their understanding of the world.

The two enhance each other into a cycle of always having to appear perfect/on top in some way, which is why people post fake stuff online. They don't want to seem like a failure and/or want to try to hide or forget feeling like a failure and thus only show their (fake) best version of themselves. This in turn enforces the idea in others watching to having to be as perfect or better. 

That pressure is higher than any person can truly handle.

The only proper solution is to let go, but that can feel more frightening than anything imaginable. 
I tried to be perfect and had a breakdown which forced me to let go, and now I show that letting go feels good and helps.

I want to help others let go of the false idol that is the perfect life.