The caption reads, “The only thing that made me feel good that day was this photo. How deeply depressing. Having a toned body is not all we as human beings are capable of.”

The caption reads, “EDIT REAL CAPTION: paid for this photo. If you find yourself looking at ‘Instagram girls’ and wishing your life was there’s… Realize you only see what they want. If they tag a company 99% of the time it’s paid. Nothing is wrong with supporting brands you love (for example I proudly would promote Eco sheets or a vegan meal in exchange for money as its business for a purpose to me). BUT this ^^^ this has no purpose. No purpose in a forced smile, tiny clothes and being paid to look pretty. We are a generation told to consume and consumer, with no thought of where it all comes from and where it all goes.”

I had never heard of Essena before the Cosmo article covering her social media movement. Cosmo tweeted the link to the article with a subject line that made me curious, “15 college women reveal what Instagram does to their body image.” There has definitely been times in my life (since the popularity of photo and video-sharing social networks) where I’ve compared myself to others. These comparisons caused jealousy, which subconsciously set standards of what I thought was beautiful. These women with shiny hair, perfect skin, skinny waists with curvy hips have created this not-so-realistic view on how we should look in order to feel good about ourselves.

With respect to the global platform of social media, I am definitely not the only one to have felt this way. Cosmo covers Essena’s social media movement… She was an Instagram model who dreamed of having thousands of followers, obsessing over her, complimenting her… making her feel valued, since she was in her young teens. With her “perfect body” and “perfect clothes” Essena gained the followers she’d always wished for. Over time, she became afraid of the future. Unsure of where her life will go, who will care about her without social media, how she will feel about herself without the thousands of fans that built her self-esteem, and how she will make money.

This realization sparked her movement, “Social Media is NOT Real.” She started by editing all of her Instagram captions with the real process behind that best photo, how often she checked for new likes, how the praise of strangers gave her the confidence she always longed for. The process behind the mindset of, “I want to be Facebook Famous, and in order to get that, I need a ‘hot profile pic.’ I want an image of myself so hot/sexy/likeable that it would reach 100+ likes.” Essena has also started a website http://www.letsbegamechangers.com, where she encourages creative ideas, innovation and authentic self expression. She now longs to find true self-confidence while promoting the realness of our flaws.

We are the generation of technology and social media, but how we perceive ourselves is not always true. What people think, may not be the reality. Be YOU and love it.