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Comment by mfoy_ | Hacker News Reader

I've never understood the instagram / facebook game that people seem to dedicate inordinate amounts of effort to... I mean, I guess it's just your typical one-upsmanship in a social network... but still. People try so hard to make it look like their lives are better than everyone else's... I don't understand. :(

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And you almost always make your actual life objectively worse in the process. I dated a media junkie, never any fun, always posing, aranging dishes, making 'moments' instead of actual enjoiable memories. She was an amazing person, but the near OCD levels of trying to make life look perfect to the outside just didnt work for me. The most amazing moments in her life, never documented, only a ghost shell online to paint a false memory.

It's a reflection of our deep insecurities, at least for some of us.

As I've resolved my internal conflicts, I've gone back and manually deleted my "high status" posts from IG/FB even if no one's going to be checking my 3 year old posts. It feels good to move past some of my past vain behavior.

I have acquaintances on Facebook that pose and cheese for the camera seemingly every day, and others who apparently schedule their posts as if they're marketing themselves as a lifestyle brand or something. Like, we get it, you like mountain biking and camping, but you didn't do that stuff on a Wednesday. I know where you work, and it's not the woods.

I'd guess that's just when they got around to posting their pictures? Why so cynical?

I think you don't understand because you're missing the marketing dimension of it

A lot of these "digital influencers" get endorsement deals, are paid to post for a brand or to test their products

That's what (a lot of them) are looking for

Some people make decent money on IG, doing things they enjoy (their kids, exercise, etc.)

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