Social Media Lowkey Broke You (But You Still Won’t Log Out).

Last Updated on July 23, 2025 by Pen Pixel

I used to think I had low self-esteem.

Turns out, I was just chronically online.

One day you’re posting selfies for fun. Next thing? You’re deleting 17 pictures in a row because your cheeks looked “too real.”

Nobody talks about this.

But I’m going to.

The Key Takeaway.

Social media doesn’t just mess with your confidence, it rebuilds you into someone who performs for strangers, doubts every angle of their own life, and questions if silence means irrelevance. It’s not a “comparison trap.” It’s an identity war.

This Is a Whole Identity Crisis.

Let’s throw away that boring quote about comparison being the thief of joy. That quote is tired. That quote needs therapy.

Because what’s happening here is deeper.

• It’s not “I wish I had her waist.”
• It is “I wish I was her.”
• It’s “Why does my life feel like a glitch when everyone else’s is edited like a movie trailer?”
• It’s also “Why don’t I feel real unless someone sees me online?”

It’s not comparison. It’s self-abandonment.

And what’s wild? You don’t even notice it happening. Because it doesn’t come like a slap. It comes like a drip.

• You stop posting for joy.
• You’ll start posting for applause.
• You stop dressing for comfort.
• You’ll start dressing for reels.

And the sickest part? You clap for others while hating yourself.

Like: “She looks SO good omg 😭😭” while zooming in on your stretch marks at midnight and wondering why your body looks like a “before” picture.

We’re all bleeding silently under filtered smiles.

How Social Media Affects Your Self-Esteem (For Real).

You become hyper-aware of everything wrong with you.

Ever stared at your face so long while editing a picture that you started to genuinely hate it?

Yeah.

When you’re constantly looking at “perfect,” average starts to look ugly.

• Your normal body? Suddenly feels too big.
• Your natural skin? Feels like a flaw.
• And your life? Too boring, too broke, too quiet, too not-yet-there.

And every scroll adds another voice to your inner critic. You don’t even know what’s real criticism and what’s just TikTok algorithms whispering in your ear.

You start performing your life instead of living it.

How many moments have you ruined by trying to make them postable?

• Birthday cake? Wait! Re-record that candle blow.
• Vacation? Pose harder. Stand here. Suck in. Smile.
• Cute outfit? Don’t wear it yet, you haven’t posted it.

You don’t even realize it, but the performance never stops. You’re acting.

• Even when no one’s watching.
• Even when it’s just you.

That’s the part that hurts.

You feel invisible unless you’re being seen.

You post because you’re lowkey scared that if you disappear online, you disappear entirely.

You crave visibility like it’s oxygen.

Not because you’re vain. But because you’re scared of silence.

We’ve tied our existence to engagement. If nobody liked it, did it even happen?

And that’s messed up. Because it means even your own memories aren’t enough anymore.

You develop a “timeline anxiety disorder.”

I don’t know what the real diagnosis is, but I’ve got a name for it: Timeline Anxiety.

It’s that buzzing, panicked feeling that you’re not moving fast enough. 

• Because she’s 19 with a house.
• He’s 23 and married.
• They just bought their third iPhone in one year.

And you? You’re still figuring out what to eat for dinner and if you should keep using that one hair cream that smells weird but kinda works.

Social media speeds up time.

Makes you feel like you’re late to your own life. And that urgency? It eats your peace.

You start needing validation from people you don’t even like.

• You have 4 mutuals who never like your post but are the first to post theirs and expect comments.
• You have ex-flings watching your stories but pretending you don’t exist.
• You have people you’ve never met in real life making you feel like you should be richer, hotter, funnier.

Why does their attention still matter?

Like, really. Why are we begging ghosts to clap for us?

It’s embarrassing. And yet, it’s real.

Your attention span? Cooked. Fried. Burnt.

Ever opened Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, and Snapchat back to back and STILL felt bored?

That’s not boredom. That’s overstimulation fatigue.

You’ve scrolled so much, your brain now needs fireworks to focus. And guess what that means?

You start thinking you’re the boring one.

You’re not. You’re just fried from watching 17 mini vlogs in 12 minutes.

You lose the ability to feel proud without proof.

You did something amazing today. Maybe you journaled. Cooked for yourself. Got out of bed when you didn’t want to.

But if no one saw it?

Did it even count?

Social media made us feel like wins don’t matter unless they’re on display. But life happens in private.

Growth is quiet. Not everything needs a post. Not everything needs applause.

Read that again.

Social media didn’t just give us filters. It gave us fake lives to compare our real ones to. And the scariest part? You keep logging in. You keep clapping. Liking. Watching. Comparing. Even when it hurts.