We underestimate how much people do things for social media.

I remember a few years ago there was a girl that I really liked. We went on a couple of dates and followed each other on Instagram. To be honest, I probably liked her a lot more than she liked me (in hindsight).

I remember that I wanted to signal to her that I was cool and interesting, and what better way to do that than with Instagram Stories, amirite?

During this time that we were talking, anytime that I did something cool, I made sure to post it on my Instagram Story. And sometimes, I even went out of my way to do extra cool shit just so I could get it on the ‘Gram.

After posting, I secretly hoped she would watch, and send me a message. I would also often check the list of people who “viewed” my story feed to see if she had seen it or not.

This lasted for weeks, if not months. It was one of those relationships that fizzled out, but I probably wanted it more than she did, so I was still flexing on the 'Gram even after it was clearly over.

It’s so weird to admit this in writing, and it’s so cringy that I did this! But I did. And I think about this often.

While I took things to the extreme, this first-hand experience changed how I think about social media for the better.

Before this, when anything cool/funny/crazy happened in my life, my first reaction was to document it, in hopes of getting validation from others.

That is the opposite of being present, the opposite of living in the moment.

Since then, I’ve gotten better at identifying my “urge to post” and push those feelings away. It has helped me understand when I’m doing something for someone else or if I’m doing it for myself.

Nowadays, I don't even have Instagram on my phone, and haven't posted an Instagram story in months. But if I think back to the last one I posted, yep, it was because I wanted to show off ;)

Next time you go to post on social media, just think for a bit about why you’re posting it. Are you being actually genuine? Who do you want to see it?