Gesphania

Photo Cred: QREV Production

In the last 10 years social media has been on a take over. It is a chance for people to network, reconnect, have a platform and reinvent themselves. Some people have a total alter-ego on their pages. Makeup, weaves, contouring, waist trainers and more! Your page is a place where you can sprinkle glitter and make your life shine more than your reality. This has viewers hooked onto the fabulously seeming lives of the beautiful faces they follow. Though I am all for creativity and one using their page however they see fit (as long as they are not doing anything to harm others or themselves), I can't help but to notice the real life influence social media has using the unrealistic life of it's popular members.

For example... You're scrolling through your timeline and there she is, that celebrity you adore. She's so pretty, you love her personality, if you could look like her you would but since you can't you click the link of the current product she's promoting. You know the one she swears she's always used to help her look the way she does? Some tea that helps keep her tummy flat, weave that magically never tangles, or maybe a bracelet that she says she wears with every outfit. It doesn't really matter what it is. All that matters is her name is attached to it. So you buy it hoping it will bring you one step closer to being as fabulous as her. And you're excited to use it until... next month you see she promoting something new. Another "must have" in your mind. And the cycle continues.

How do I even know about this cycle? I used to be a mindless link clicker. Sometimes I'd buy whatever it is that pretty face is selling (confession, my weakness was Draya), other times I'd have a reality check and back away from my computer. Since I often question all my actions, one day I asked myself, does she even use that really? The business woman bulb suddenly went on and I realized more times than not the celebrities, Instagram stars, and YouTube pioneers promoting all kinds of products don't really use them. They are being paid to pretend or paid to use them for a certain contracted period by companies who know their followers will bite the bait every time without fail.

Most of the times these companies paying your favorite celeb a few thousand dollars are already well on their way to being a multi-million dollar company while you, the consumer, are pulling together all your coins to buy $45.00 flat tummy tea... TEA (side eye).

I say all of this to remind you to not set your standards via social media personalities or any standard media sets for that matter. Your value, your worth, your beauty is not determined by a product and products are not better quality because a pretty face's name is stamped on it for the moment. I am not telling you not to shop your favorite products or to stop following your favorite celebrity. I just want to make sure you are aware of the cycle you may be in so you can make conscious decisions moving forward without the influence of those you adore.

Now before I click that link I ponder on where my money is going and who I am supporting. Am I helping a small business or black owned business put food on the table for their family? Is a percentage from the proceeds of my purchase going to a worthy cause? Or am I giving a part of my check to a multi-millionaire that doesn't really need my coin? Questions you should ask yourself next time you're scrolling and see that brand new thing.