I left Facebook because I was sick of showing off my perfectionism.

Thu nhập bình thường nhưng tôi ngắm nhiều ảnh đẹp rồi mua quần áo, phụ kiện, đi rất nhiều nơi để chụp ảnh đăng lên mạng — Average income but I look at many beautiful pictures then buy clothes, accessories, go to many places to take pictures to post online

Lately, I have not been using social media as much as before. I even locked my Facebook page, did not reply to messages, and spent all my free time reading books, watching movies, and playing with my little cat.

This change makes life a bit slower, but much more peaceful.

After experiencing the turmoil caused by social media, I realized that this application is just a place for people to show off their perfection.

The more time I spend on Facebook, YouTube, TikTok…, seeing how much happiness, gifts and love everyone has, the more a single person with nothing outstanding like me feels sad, even jealous.

A few years ago, I was so addicted to social media that I lost many opportunities for advancement, leading to despair and depression.

Having beautiful, carefully edited photos that received countless likes and compliments was my biggest desire at that time. Over time, this habit became an illness.

I spent all my savings on clothes and accessories to take virtual photos, taking pictures at any location, from coffee shops, parks to train stations, shopping malls... which are considered to be places that attract young people on social networks.

My boyfriend initially tried to go along with me out of courtesy, but over time he got tired of it. Having to constantly hold the camera to serve my "virtual life" hobby, he became irritable.

That was also the main reason for the conflicts and constant arguments between us. And then finally I chose to break up with my lover.

Trước đây, nhìn người ta hạnh phúc tôi cũng buồn tủi - Ảnh: QUANG ĐỊNH — Before, seeing other people happy made me sad too - Photo: QUANG DINH

The teacher's salary is only at the average level, but I am willing to spend millions to hire professional photographers to take pictures and videos in many different settings. And of course, after those sparkling photo sets, I received a "shower" of compliments online.

My investment level is getting bigger and bigger as I am willing to save every penny, eat instant noodles instead of rice, to hire a whole team from makeup artist, photographer to driver.

The consequence of those days of "virtual living" was a huge debt, forcing me to teach for a whole year to be able to pay it off.

In addition, during the time I was absorbed in "virtual life", I started to neglect my teaching, often coming late and leaving early, using my phone for personal work. The school board reminded me many times but I still did not change, until a student had an accident because of my tardiness.

A few other things happened too. The shock left me reeling for a long time. And when I had the chance to calm down, I realized how lost and unstable my life was because of my dependence on the virtual world.

I decided to give up social media, locked my personal page for a few days, and my time seemed to expand.

My emotions no longer depend on icons, public praise and criticism. I can sleep until noon, eat my favorite food, watch a movie that many people criticize... I realize that not many people search for me or find me "disappeared". It turns out that I am not important enough for the whole world to frantically search for my attention.

I focused on getting back to living for myself, finding more valuable connections for my real life.

What do you think about showing off joy and happiness on social networks? In your opinion, should we keep our happiness to ourselves and our loved ones? Please share your views to the email address [email protected]. Tuoi Tre Online thanks you.

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