Look away from online resolutions

Making resolutions has become an advent for the new year. After all, the blank pages of our new journals and calendars need to be filled with something new. In need of inspiration, many students turn to social media for guidance on what they should achieve in the upcoming year.

Unfortunately, social media is fake — and characteristically so. In order to succeed on the algorithm, creators often need to present the most perfectly aesthetic side of their lives and deliver the most shocking statements. Most of what we see online are carefully curated and artificial, with no reliable way to confirm which lifestyles are truly authentic. If our resolutions are built off of these unrealistic online influences, they can at best lead to disappointing outcomes and at worst cause lasting damage to bodily and mental health.

One popular new year’s resolution for students is to pursue new academic goals. Aesthetic “Study-tok” and “That Girl” videos, for example, that show unrealistically perfect routines, pressuring students to believe overachieving goals are practical. For example, many videos may include ideas equating achieving a 4.0 GPA or learning a new language in an absurdly short period of time to being a “perfect” or “ideal” student.

Fanciful academic resolutions are not the only unrealistic expectations pushed by social media; there are also athletic or appearance-based goals. For instance, the pressure to “glow up” can cause teens to question their body image and develop negative self-esteem, often leading to eating disorders. The constant stream of “what I ate in a day” videos or cleansing challenges can lead impressionable audiences to make nutritional decisions without professional nutrition knowledge.

In the end, each person knows themselves best. When setting goals, it is important to consider what one knows they are actually capable of and what their situation allows for. For example, trying to squeeze in more hours of studying into an already packed schedule could cause burn out and negatively impact future performance. Aiming for a complete physique change in a short period of time can lead to the development of unhealthy exercise habits and cause injury.

Rather than aiming for lofty, unrealistic goals motivated by social media’s expectations, it could be better to break these goals down into smaller, more specific objectives, such as exercising three times a week or cutting down on fried foods. These kinds of resolutions are not only specific to each person, but also more simple and reachable, making them more likely to be achieved.