#my sister's self esteem and sense of identity is completely wack and I do kinda blame social media

[garfieldbabe]

When you are a teenager you are developing your sense of identity. At that stage of development you naturally look to those around you and try emulate them. On  social media, there is a constant exposure to incredibly idealized versions of people’s lives, as well as a constant stream of advertisements and brand deals from influencers. This means teens today are being pushed more than ever before to fit into a very specific lifestyle, and to always be happy and perfect. Yes this isn’t a new phenomena, but I see it being made exponentially worse by the current structures of the social media platforms kids congregate on today (tik tok, instagram, pinterest). 

And of course the only kids that are able to fulfill the checklist of things necessary to fit in, are kids with well off parents. So many of the products being pushed in these circles are needlessly expensive (50$ water bottles???). Making children grow up thinking that purchasing trendy objects is the only way they can have any social capital is disgusting!!