Social Media Mamas – Just Let Them LIVE!

We’ve all seen them. Those sugary-sweet, picture-perfect Insta posts with smiling kids, and exotic vacations-ugh… We’ve also seen those sick kids, tired mom, messy house pictures. Like, that’s ALL that mom posts… Ugh. It’s so easy to judge, so easy to sit in that mix of jealousy and superiority and solidarity that shifts with every scroll, and feed off of those feelings from the comfort of your own home/couch/bed at 9p.m. But, I’ve got a new rule: Social Media Mamas – just let them LIVE!

Social Media Mamas: Just let them LIVE!

Personally, I’m pretty much a happy-only poster. Does this make me fake, over-curated, or shallow? Heck no. For me, I view my feed as an album of beautiful moments. The mundane AND the big events, they are always going to be the ones that I want to remember, even on bad days. My life has struggles – I’m the mama to a little one with special needs, I live far from most friends and family, and a million other little things that impact how and why I choose to share the photos and information that I do. It brings peace to my heart and a smile to my face, and makes me happy. I am frequently willing to share about deep, and even painful topics during face-to-face conversations with dear friends, or even in longer-form outlets, like blogging. But for me, typical social media has a different purpose. And, that’s OK!

Now, is this better or worse than the mama that finds peace and connection with sharing more about her tough moments? NO. “Different isn’t wrong” is one of our favorite household mantras. And, it totally applies here. It’s a different approach, but works for that person, and their family. And just like you love your neighbor Barb for her ability to light up a room with her smile, and we love Jess because she can talk about just anything, and Lucy is just so compassionate and understanding, we need to allow each mama, each person, to share their lives in a way that is meaningful and fun for them and their unique personalities!

Here are a few reminders to take away:

• You are not entitled to information about your friends’ lives – good, bad or ugly
• You are not required to follow or like your friends’ profiles and posts – a follow doesn’t equal friendship, and sometimes NOT following is the best for your relationship
• You are never gonna know the whole story – That whole, “everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about” thing, ya know?
• You are totally in control of what you post, don’t post, or comment – But of course, you unfortunately aren’t free of the reactions that those posts might elicit. I mean, you are putting yourself out there, so it’s part of the whole package. BUT, that’s why I’m making this list – so we can just let each other LIVE!

I FREELY admit that I am FAR from perfect at following these rules. And, who doesn’t love to poke a little fun at those influencers every once in a while (I’m not the only one who has doubts about sugar bear hair gummies and subscription boxes, right?!). But, I’m working on it!

What type of “poster” are you? Have you run into problems on social media, or experienced criticism for what you do and don’t post? What are your personal social media guidelines?

Note: Of course, there are limits to responsible posting of our children and lives, but I believe that, in general, we would all benefit from just chilling out a bit, and letting people share in their own way  So, again: Social Media Mamas – just let them LIVE!