SOCIAL MEDIA: How do I handle the pressure to be perfect?

3rd May, 2017    |    By  Project Rockit    |     2k

In Episode 4 of PROJECT ROCKIT TV, we explore the pressures of social media – perfection, likes and online popularity. You’ll meet P-ROCKer Beck Evans, who has used social media as a space to get through hard times, find people with shared interests and improve her skills.


Also check the related topics:  

Self esteem Staying safe online Managing friendships

Video provided by Project Rockit

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SOCIAL MEDIA: How do I handle the pressure to be perfect?

Cassie: Hey P Rockers, it’s Cassie and Luz here today to get real about, um, social media.

Luz: Yeah, we love social media at Project Rockit. I mean, who isn’t into a cheeky Snapchat filter or that perfect, on-point meme that pops up in your Instagram feed?

Cassie: But it can also be pretty stressful because of a phenomenon that we call “the pressure for the perfect post.”

Luz: We get it. We know that.

Cassie: Yeah, totally. I think we’ve all had that moment before where all you want to do is take a selfie, and you end up taking 364 photos of yourself just to get the right shot.

Luz: A little bit guilty. But maybe even, you know, when you take a photo of nature and you apply, like, six different filters to try to make it look like a National Geographic shot.

Cassie: Yes, beauty!

Luz: Yeah, this is all true, but at Project Rockit, we think that social media should be more than posting flawless selfies or filtered shots of the world around us. It should be a place where you can be yourself.

Cassie: That’s so true. And that’s why we want to kick off by introducing you to one of our heroes at Project Rockit, and that’s Bek Evans.

Luz: We met Bek when she was in Year 8 in a Project Rockit workshop at her school. Now she’s finishing school, and she’s actually built this incredible community via her social media.

Bek: Hey! I’m Bek. I’m 18 years old, and I’m from Melbourne. I’ve always had a love for horror films, and one day, when I was playing with some old makeup, I decided to turn myself into a zombie. I had no idea what I was doing at the time, but I had so much fun doing it, and it sparked this love for creating unconventional things with makeup.

School wasn’t the easiest place for me. I found it difficult to connect with other people because I had different interests than they did, and some students just tried to go out of their way to make my life a bit difficult. But after discovering this love of makeup, I went online and stumbled across this whole community of people who also love doing special effects makeup.

Suddenly, I was connected with all these new people who appreciated what I was doing and encouraged me to keep practicing. As I improved, I started to post my own makeup work to Instagram and connect with other makeup artists. Now, there are thousands of people that follow my account and appreciate what I do.

Social media has been more than just a place to post pics for me—it’s kind of been a life-changer.

Luz: Bek is such a legend. Not only is she our hero at Project Rockit, but she’s the perfect example of how you can overcome the pressure of social media and use it to actually post about what you’re passionate about, showcase your talents, and build your own brand.

Cassie: Yeah, right. I mean, thanks to Bek, we’ve managed to come up with a recipe for overcoming this pressure by taking three really simple steps.

Luz: Okay, so first of all, check yourself. At Project Rockit, we like to ask, “Why am I posting this?” You know, “Am I posting this because it’s a good post, or am I posting this for somebody else?”

Cassie: Yeah, it’s so easy to get caught up in posting content you just think is going to look cool, rather than posting the stuff that we actually like.

Luz: Which brings us to the second tip, and that is: we can’t please them all.

Cassie: You’re not going to win over every person with every post. In fact, sometimes you might get some unfollowers, and I’m cool with that.

Luz: Because at Project Rockit, we’re all about quality over quantity. The quality of your post isn’t determined by the number of likes that you get.

Cassie: That’s so true. Even on my own account, I realized that the less thought I put into how many likes I get, the more I actually enjoy posting—and the more authentic my posts actually are.

Luz: Yeah. And lastly, we recommend: post your passions.

Cassie: And that’s going to look different for everyone. If you have some mad makeup skills, maybe you’re going to post about that. Or if you’re a gamer, maybe you’re going to post about your mad gaming skills.

Luz: Or it might just be something you’re really passionate about. In any case, when we post the things that we really care about, that pressure tends to fall away, and we can have a good time online again.

Cassie: And hey, if you still just want to take dog-face filter photos and post them online, then that’s totally cool as well.

Luz: Ain’t nothing wrong with that.

Cassie: And so, yeah.

 

Video by Project Rockit