The Sugar Bear Hair Epidemic

In the digital age, the consumerism is only growing. Go on any platform of social media and somehow, there is an ad for what you were conveniently just talking about. Now that’s a whole other issue in regards to technology but the point is, one cannot escape from the plaguing call to purchase.

As a teenage girl, I have known about the Kardashian/Jenner family for the entirety of my pre-adolescent years. The Kardashians are a well-known public figure and to some, idols. Part of me has to wonder, is this what we are striving to become now? Is our goal in life to reach a million followers and sell Sugar Bear Hair gummies as our job? Have we always been so self-centered but social media has been the epidemic to pull it out of us? The reality of it is most of us will never reach these farlandish goals that people like the Kardashians and influencers have set for us. What we are in need of is a reality check, to have “reality confirmed” so we have something to contrast the dreams plaguing our minds.

I myself have fallen to the danger of being warped into the dead end dreams that come with the pull of social media. Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and more have caused a “mental pollution” (Sontag) in the minds of society, especially teenagers. When I first began to watch YouTube, I am embarrassed to say that I was consumed with the idea of moving to Los Angeles and starting a YouTube career. About five channels in, I quickly realized that the job was imaginary and not possible. I know that I am not the only one who has had a dream like this, whether it be the YouTube dream or something else. We have all been struck with the idea that there is something better for us to do in the world.

Whether it be a photograph like Susan Sontag talked about or the effect of social media, there is always something that causes our sense of reality to waver. The question we must face in the future is what will we do when this senselessness leads to our demise?