Social Media: The Modern Day Diary

A recent study by The University of York has revealed that our social media accounts have the potential to completely change the way we feel about our memories, with their value for many being measured through ‘likes’ and external validation. Yet with a recent report by the BBC revealing that social media could be linked to poor mental health, Instagram is now allowing users to hide their ‘likes’, in a bid to reduce pressure. Similarly, a new regulation from Norway’s Ministry of Children and Family Affairs has been brought in to try and fight unrealistic standards, by requiring influencers who are making money from their content to label when an image has been retouched.

Our social media accounts are often bombarded with an array of idealised images, from ‘ideal’ lifestyles and relationships to the ‘perfect’ career. As such, an emerging social media trend to counter such negative effects has been influencers showing the drastic impact that ‘lighting and tensing’ can have on images, with many now sharing both ‘perfect and relaxed poses’ to ‘normalise’ all body types. Similarly, there has also been a rise in ‘Instagram versus reality’ to bring awareness to the fact that our social media platforms are rarely a reflection of reality.

As influencers, governments and Instagram begin to depressurise our experience on the platform, recent data from PastBook has now revealed that 29% of the nation say that their social media accounts are the best representation they have of their life story. With our accounts having the potential to become an accurate digital diary, what we share with our followers has completely changed. Today – as we feel at ease to document our everyday life events and major moments – our Instagram accounts now reflect the traditional diary.

Wouter Staatsen, CEO of PastBook, discusses the value of governments and platforms making social media a representative facet of everyday life:

“Social media has had an increasingly bad reputation for unrealistic standards and an idealised version of each user’s life. There has, however, been a recent shift and desire to make social media account more realistic and true to real life. Whether it be regulation on filters or making the number of likes each post on Instagram gets invisible, both governments and platforms are making social media more representative of every facet of life.

As our research shows, social media accounts are often the best representation a person has of their life story, especially for young people who are increasingly recording precious memories and moments to post on their social media. One thing that is missing is any kind of physical version of these photos, but this is what we want to solve with PastBook photobooks, which allow you to, almost instantly, create a beautiful book based on a user’s Instagram or Facebook photos.”