Content creator Tasnim Omran is raising awareness about the connection between social media’s portrayals of filtered lifestyles and its impact on mental health
A lady poses with her branded bag, high heels and clothes on a railway station platform to announce her travel to a popular destination; the second image shows her actual travel mode with a load of suitcases and bags which makes it clear that travel is not uber cool but can be tedious in reality. Content creator and author Tasnim Omran was at the 43rd edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) to explain “Instagram vs Reality: The Truth Behind Perfect Posts” to an audience that comprised mostly teenagers.
Teens today have got bolder and are willing to be true to themselves and to their followers on social media. They take two photos – one that looks “Instagram perfect” and the other the real, behind-the-scenes moments – for example messy rooms or retakes – and create a split post that reveals the difference between the curated and the authentic.
Commenting on the Instagram obsession for the perfect shot, Omran said: “Since the time of Covid-19, we all spend a lot of time on social media, especially the reel loop. What we see on Instagram or other social media is the perfect life. You will not see a picture of someone crying or fighting with their partner. We know there is another life behind the scenes, so we need someone else to remind us that the perfect life on Instagram has another side. If you don’t remember that, you will think others’ lives are perfect and it will affect your mental health.”
Omran is here to create awareness and showed a YouTube video to explain how food is made to look delectable online. She added: “It is not only about people, it is about products. I once travelled a long way to eat something that looked very mouth-wateringly good, but I was disappointed when I actually saw the food. While photoshopping is admissible to make pictures look prettier, giving wrong information is ethically inappropriate.”
Omran, who had 4000 followers on Instagram before she took a break a year ago to work among People of Determination, writes stories for children.