Beyond the likes: The pressure to live up to unrealistic online lifestyles
Social media has made performance a prerequisite for belonging — and young Kenyans are paying the price.
By Faith Chepkoech
We have grown so accustomed to displaying our lives that we risk forgetting a life needs no audience to be meaningful.
Social media has reshaped how young people communicate, express themselves and measure their worth. Beneath the glamorous photographs and curated lifestyles lies a damaging reality: young people increasingly judge themselves against images designed to impress, not to inform.
Celebrities, influencers and reality television personalities present expensive clothes, luxury holidays and perfect relationships as the default markers of success. What audiences rarely see is the staging, editing and selective presentation behind each post. The problem starts when young people stop treating such content as entertainment and begin treating it as a standard they must meet.
Peer pressure amplifies the damage. Comparisons extend beyond celebrities to friends and classmates. Some young people borrow money or overspend to finance an appearance of wealth — turning a desire to belong into a financial burden. In Kenya, where many students are navigating tight budgets while seeking employment or financial independence, money spent on appearances is money diverted from transport, food and savings.
The emotional toll is equally serious. When everyday life fails to match a stranger’s highlight reel, the result is insecurity, inadequacy and anxiety. The comparison is structurally unfair: one side shows everything, the other selects only what flatters.
Solutions exist. Schools and universities should embed digital literacy and financial education into curricula. Parents and educators must normalise conversations about self-worth beyond social validation.
Completing a semester, learning a skill or saving modestly are achievements worth celebrating — regardless of how well they photograph.
A society that rewards performance over substance teaches its youth to perform happiness rather than build it.
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