Here’s why it’s absolutely okay for millenials to document, like, everything

Millennials are in a weird position. We remember when the only way to take pictures was on disposable film cameras, but now we’re accustomed to taking 28 pictures until we get just the right selfie, and we’re low key addicted to Twitter.

Much to the dismay of many, we love putting these pictures online, but are we really oversharing, as many suggest? Are you even a millennial if you haven’t heard, “Who cares what cereal you had for breakfast this morning?” Unfortunately, there’s such a disdainful attitude to young people sharing online – but why is it such a bad thing?

Selfies

You should love seeing your friends’ selfies. I love supporting my friends, giving them a like and a comment. They’re dismissed as vain and self-absorbed, but really there’s no negative in someone feeling so good about the way they look that they want to share it.

It is less about vanity and more about confidence, allowing yourself to love the way you look and letting others know. It’s a way to express a side to yourself other people may not be used to, or even capturing the way you felt in a moment and sharing it with your friends. Feeling beautiful isn’t a crime, and neither is supporting a friend who does. Why not make someone feel good about themselves? It takes minimal effort to hit the like button, and gives people such a confidence boost. Selfies = good.

Food pictures

Who cares what you had for lunch today? Spoiler – millennials do. Tell me where you went! It looks delicious and I’m definitely heading there later this week.

 There’s oversharing, and then there’s just sharing your interests and what you’re enjoying. Sharing pictures of what you’re eating is just another form of social interaction, but for some reason people hate it, and feel the need to say, “Just eat your food.” Guess what? Chances are the person ate the food 0.02 seconds after they took the picture. Sharing this way sparks conversation, and is another fun way of letting your friends know what you’re up to, as well as finding great new places to eat. Plus, when you’re sad and hungry later you can go through your camera roll and remember all the great times you had with your food.

Holiday pictures

There is so much hate for holiday pictures! Firstly, it feels so obvious to say… you don’t have to look at them. But again, I love seeing what my friends are up to, and where they are now.

Seeing someone else having a great time on holiday shouldn’t make you feel negatively towards them, look at someone enjoying themselves and feel happy for them! It also gives you amazing small talk next time you see them, and even gives good inspiration for where to go yourself. Seeing what your peers are up to is an obvious indication of what you might enjoy yourself, and is a great way of stealing cheap and amazing holiday ideas off other people.

Update posts

I’ll admit, there’s definitely a select few who take Facebooks, ‘what’s on your mind?’ a little too seriously. But in general, it’s not a bad thing to see what your friends are getting up to. Who would you be without constant updates from some distant cousin letting you know how they are through worryingly lengthy statuses? But seriously, new relationships, new jobs, important events are all things shared on the internet, which you would also share in real life. The fact that social media allows you to reach out and tell people who you may not see is great, and means you are able to keep up with events and friends you may not even have known about otherwise.

Sharing is amazing to be able to keep in contact with and support your friends. There’s a different type of closeness that comes with social media and communication. Sure – there are elements of showing off, there’s a lot of people seeking validation, but that was never exclusive to the internet (or millennials). Being in contact is no bad thing. There are definitely plenty of negatives when it comes to the internet, but giving your friends selfies a supportive like every once in a while is definitely not one of them. Let people enjoy things and share them with the people they love, and if you don’t like it… you can just delete.