Social Media Unfiltered

The Delusion of 'Having It All Together: The Unfiltered Social Media Filter

Exposing the socialism in social media, one unrealistic pin at a time.

Instagram moms, Pinterest planners, and those girlboss TikTokers with "soft mornings" (whatever that is. I have only had hard mornings) and $200 face serums, this is your formal roast invitation. But, um, yeah, like, no offense.

When I was a young girl (this was like 2 weeks ago), I once tried a morning routine I found on YouTube. You know the kind, sunrise yoga (my version was what I like to call sunrise noga where I noga out of my bed), a green smoothie (OK, so I'll be honest, it was green because it was a mint chip milkshake, guys), journaling, and "intentional silence." I was asleep again by 9 a.m. because that silence was too intentional. I wish I could be the Girl with the morning routine with the hair oils, face serum, flawless skin, and perfect outfits. But I'm not, which makes me feel a little less than those who are, and culture does not help.

So here we are, unraveling the myth that everyone else has their life together—when they're just better at faking it online. Buckle up. We're talking hustle culture, curated chaos, and why your planner doesn't need to look like a flipping vacation to Paris scrapbook.

 

The Good – Things I Like

A functional planner. One that doesn't require five highlighters, washi tape, and a vision board of your "dream life" in a place I can't even pronounce.

The keeping it real ones. These are the posts where someone admits they forgot it was Monday and sent their kid to school with a slice of cake and in the wrong uniform. Iconic.

Memes. I'll be honest. I'm only here for the memes guys.

 The Bad – Here's Where It Goes Off the Rails

Clean girl aesthetic. So… just be rich, skinny, and wear beige? Got it.

The productivity trap. You're not lazy. You're just overwhelmed and maybe a little allergic to the to-do list of someone with maids, butlers, and has a million dollars to spare.

Toxic positivity. Nobody feels "blessed" during a mental breakdown in the Walmart parking lot. I said what I said.

The filters. Have you ever found it hard to recognize yourself with a filter on?

🔥 Hot Takes You Didn't Ask For (But I'm Giving Anyway)

Morning routines are just meant to talk crap about people while quite literally turning yourself into someone you are not with half a ton of makeup; it screams insecurity but gets likes and loves.

If your planner has stickers for "hydrate" and "breathe," you need therapy, not The Happy Planner.

Not posting your mess doesn't mean the mess doesn't exist. It just means you're hiding it better than the rest of us.

Nothing says body positivity like putting a crap ton of makeup on just to go to the grocery store. Oh and apologizing for how you look before the makeup. Then reminding us to love the natural look.

Can We All Agree…

Most "Sunday resets" are just panic-cleaning with a playlist. I like to pretend someone is coming over so I have more motivation until I remember that I could never have someone over because my house is not insta worthy.

Digital detoxes are great until you realize your entire personality is a meme or until your mother calls you and you don't answer.

The girlboss era is over. We're tired, we're broke, and honestly, we'd rather nap. Quit trying to be a trendsetter and make sparkling water happen, Gretchen.

A Little Deep POV

You wake up in the morning, hitting the snooze on your alarm clock, you look at the time. 4:30. You don't have to be wherever you are going until 8, but the morning routine takes hours. You love that some people love the morning routines, they love skincare, they love it all. You don't. But you do it. You do it to be pretty. You did it to seem cool. To seem cultured. To be normal. But it's not normal. Staring at the mirror and feeling hideous without makeup is not normal. Saying I need makeup is not a natural sentence that should be spoken, but you should do it daily.

On the days you don't wear a bunch of makeup, comments are made, and if by chance the middle schooler you pass on the way to lunch doesn't tell you how tired you look, rest assured you'll tell yourself at least 10 times that you look like a child dying of pneumonia. But most days you will wear makeup, a lot of it. You'll put a filter on every picture before you post it and hyper analyze every outfit. Because the girls on your TikTok feed don't look like this, the girls on YouTube don't, and the ladies on Instagram look like walking, talking Barbie dolls. You realize that concealer conceals real beauty and foundation builds a foundation of lies. 

As you take off your makeup before bed, washing off the separate identity you have created, you can even look at your reflection. You feel so plain without the extra little sparkle. The sparkle that was just bat poop sitting on your face. Let me tell you, honey, you have a different kind of sparkle. One that doesn't wash off in the shower or with makeup wipes. A sparkle that comes from inside. The way you laugh when you shouldn't, the way you smile and the whole room lights up, your sense of humor that cheers people up, your personality, your heart. That's how you shine, and between you and me, that glow is way more flattering than any highlighter I have ever seen, any filter I have ever used, or any trend I have tried to do. 

Be you, because the world needs you.

The Real Talk 

Nobody has it all together. Some people have better lighting, a publicist, and a filter preset named "chaos eraser.". Some people can hide their flaws more than others, but don't get confused; they have flaws too.

You're not behind. You're not a mess. You're just not pretending. That may be OK. So ditch the illusion, embrace the mess, and stop comparing your behind-the-scenes to someone else's highlight reel.

Final Thought

At the end of the day, you don't need a matching loungewear set and a five-step skincare routine to be successful. Sometimes, success is surviving the day without crying in fluorescent lighting.

Can we quit normalizing gossiping about people and talking trash, and please just be real? It's OK to have issues. It is alright to be afraid. It's OK to cry. To worry, to stress, to not feel good enough. That's normal, guys. It's called being human, and believe it or not, we all deal with it, except if you're a robot. So just be you and select the traffic light.

'Til next time,

— Alyssa🦩

P.S. Got a topic you want my unfiltered take on? Drop it in the comments or email me at AlyssaUnfiltered@outlook.com (but don't be weird about it).