It’s 2015 – otherwise known as the generation of validation. We spend countless minutes, hours, days? Getting ready to take the perfect Instagram-worthy photo in attempts to maintain the social media façade we have created for ourselves. And what for? Relying on the validation we get from seeing multiple hearts appear on the bottom of our Instagram feeds is an unsatisfactory thrill, but one we all partake in. According to Dove, this fixation is doing our self-esteem more harm than good.
The brand’s latest global initiative, their U.K #NoLikesNeeded campaign, is designed to help boost confidence and help young people develop a positive relationship with beauty, reminding us that the only “like” that matters is our own.
Our generation has gotten so accustomed to receiving praise online that we have started to expect the same amount of validation offline, too. That feeling of needing to be hearted all the time leaves us feeling disheartened, relying on external sources to confirm that what we’re posting or doing is cool.
A University of Michigan study published in the Journal of Social Issues found that college students who base their own self-worth on these external sources, like the approval of others, reported more stress, anger, drug and alcohol use, relationship conflicts, academic problems, and symptoms of eating disorders.
“A girl’s presence and participation in social media can become so carefully constructed that it no longer represents the reality of her life, with the average girl taking 12 minutes to prepare for a single ‘selfie’”, a statement from Dove reads.
In addition to its #NoLikesNeeded campaign, the brand has launched its U.S. Self-Esteem Project, both designed to remind us that searching for validation in others brings us further away from our own center.
So lets all remind ourselves that not everyone will “like” us, and that we should stand behind our beliefs, regardless of the voice inside our heads that wants to make sure our followers will agree with us.
Check out the campaign video below.
