Media Overload: Authenticity Is Hard To Come By

With countless outlets of media on so many different platforms dictating our daily lives, it’s almost too easy to get caught up in the digital world. But at what cost? When do we become too consumed by media and lose sight of who we are?

This past week, a huge trending topic around social media was “The Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge,” where young girls were suctioning Gatorade bottles to their lips in attempt to get Kylie Jenner’s plump-looking, full lips. The result was many disappointed teenage girls with self-inflicted mouth hickeys. Sure, the biggest form of flattery is imitation, but I highly doubt that Kylie Jenner thought wearing a lot of lip liner would amount to the chaos she receives for it. I can hardly scroll through my news feed without seeing her infamous drawn on pout. Since when did we allow a 16-year-old reality TV star dictate our news cycle?

This is why it’s so essential to remain an independent thinker. The media has become increasingly influential in our society and that’s not changing any time soon. So instead of going on and on about how media is making our generation stupid, there needs to be an active conversation about media literacy. People must become more aware of the media they are consuming and pay more attention to the credibility of the source from which they are getting their information.

By encouraging everyone to embrace their authenticity and their independence, we are promoting the fact that no form of media can dictate who you are as a person. Being an independent thinker means acknowledging the media as a part of our daily lives, but not allowing it to completely command our actions and being.

As corny or repetitive as it may sound, there’s only one you. There is truly something magical in one’s authenticity because it cannot be copied or duplicated. When we’re trying to be like everyone else, life will be boring. When you embrace who you are as an authentic human, there is a sense of freedom, the liberation of being unapologetically genuine.