From the looks of them, my social media profiles seem to say this: ”Hi, my name is Carrie Kerpen. Clearly, I am a success. I started a business from scratch and grew it to be a top social media agency with over fifty people. I have a beautiful family that’s always smiling. My hair is coiffed, my nails are done, and nothing looks wrong from the outside.”

Here’s the truth: I do feel pretty lucky to have the life that I lead. But it’s not perfect. While the world sees perfectly crafted posts, my behind-the-scenes world consists of fluctuating work crises, kids who are amazing but far from perfect, and, when not photographed, hair that is a hot mess. I’m in the same rat race with everyone else, and, sometimes, life feels damn hard.

Couple the realities of a busy life with the images presented to me on social media–the ones of other people’s perfect lives. I’m watching a thousand versions of myself–but much better. They’re more fit, more together, more successful. And, unlike my own existence where I am able to see the world behind the perfectly crafted posts, I have an unrealistic view of how these amazing people live. And suddenly, I’m left feeling less successful, less of a perfect parent, less beautiful, and well, much more alone. I took the leap and spoke about this at my WomanCon conference keynote, and I found that I wasn’t the only one feeling this way.

As pastor Steve Furtick once said, “The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind the scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.” He said that way before social media became a widely-used tool to showcase the best of ourselves, and in 2014, his words ring true more than ever before. In fact, a recent study from the University of Michigan shows that there’s a direct correlation between social media usage and feelings of loneliness.

 

Real the full article "Here's How To Not Let Social Media Depress You" at Forbes.