Imagine this: It's a weekend morning around 10 a.m., and you just woke up. All of your roommates are still snoozing, so you reach for your phone. You open Instagram, like and comment on a bunch of posts, and even hit the "follow" button a few times. You save memes and GIFs that make you laugh, and make mental notes on when you should use them in the group chat. (Anything related to SpongeBob SquarePants or The Office is always relevant.) Then, your feeds stop loading or you accidentally like a post from years ago. You realize that there are so many social media struggles millennials can relate to on the daily. Can I get an, "Ugh?"
These are the struggles that'll make most of us in this generation laugh out loud and comment, "Same," even though they make us totally cringe in that very moment. They're the times when you want to post something, but haven't done a photo shoot with your besties in, like, forever. They're also the split seconds that come between you and the follower who got to your bestie's post first, causing you to send a text like, "I'll get 'em next time!"
Even if you can't beat these five struggles, you know that you'll be able to laugh out loud at them with a bunch of other millennials. *Cue the LOLs."
First things first: One of the struggles you probably face the most is wanting to post on social media, but having zero new content in your camera roll. The selfies you snapped at the beach over the summertime have already been used, and the detail shots of your chic sneakers made an appearance on your feed last week. You think to yourself, "What do I do now?"
Well, from what I can tell, you have two options: One, you can grab your camera or your phone and start adventuring with your besties. You could fill Polaroid frames and come up with cute captions along the way. Two, you could take a break from posting, and get inspo from your favorite influencers for your next photo shoot. (Making this decision is part of the struggle — I know.)
Most of the time, when your bestie is about to make a social media post, she texts you first. She runs the joke by you before hitting the "share" button, or asks you to edit the #fire picture she just took of her slice of pizza. In the moment, you always feel so important.
To your bestie, it does, and she low-key expects that. Once you confirm her #content, you'll hype it up on social media, too. You'll be the first like and comment on the post, setting the tone for everybody else who follows.
Every once in a while, though, somebody beats you to it. You might be distracted because you're at the mall or having lunch with your mom. You don't get that first like and comment, and send a text to your BFF that says, "The struggle is real." (Girl, same.)
Some situations in life are better described with memes and GIFs. There just aren't always words or phrases to perfectly express your feelings, reactions, or thoughts. But, there is always a snippet from Friends or Queer Eye that can communicate what's going through your brain.
The struggle, though, is when you can't find the exact one you're looking for. For example, you may be texting tea to your bestie and want to send her the Jonathan Van Ness GIF that says, "Can you believe?" You scroll through your camera roll for a solid five to 10 minutes, but it's nowhere to be found. What gives?
You go on social media and re-save the GIF to your phone to a spot where you'll never lose it again. Phew! That was a close call.
Have you ever been scrolling through someone's profile, reading the funny memes they posted or looking at old photos, and accidentally liked something? Let me take a wild guess: In that moment, your heart dropped a little bit and you immediately closed out of all your apps. You threw your phone across the room, and swore you were never going to look again. (Same.)
But, sure enough, within the next few days, you were back double-tapping on posts that were made when you were in high school. You thought to yourself, "This is inevitable," and decided that the other millennials on social media would understand.
I'm one of those millennials, and I do understand your struggle. Instead of cringing, let's laugh about it, OK?
Last but not least, being a millennial on social media means that you're constantly in need of a witty, cute, or punny caption. You need a few words that will make your followers laugh, or inspire them to get creative with their selfies. Some days, you just can't think of a pun or funny quote. Um, help!
You immediately start texting your best friends, asking for their advice and greatest suggestions. Somebody always sends you a bunch of options in the group chat, which you appreciate more than they'll ever know.
Eventually, you find one that speaks to your soul or end up saying, "Oh well. I'll just put an emoji." That works, too, especially when the social media struggle is so real.
