hi I'm Natalie and I want to tell you
about how I became popular on Instagram
with thousands and thousands of
followers okay so it all started about a
year ago I had been stuck with only 500
followers for what felt like forever
I noticed that other people in my school
were reaching more than 1,000 followers
and some even more than 10,000 I was
seriously jealous I just wanted to be
popular like them they were always
posting photos of themselves on the
beach with their perfect golden tans and
their perfectly defined abs their
weekends seem to be jam-packed with
constant fun whereas I would be at home
trying to finish my essays and looking
after my baby sister awhile my mom
worked night shifts in the hospital just
so she could afford to send me to school
one day during the summer holidays after
I finished vacuuming the house I was
scrolling through my Instagram feed and
I just felt the surge of envy run
through me
Chris was surfing in Hawaii Collette was
doing yoga in Bali and here I was
running laps around the garden trying to
keep up with my baby sister I'd had
enough
no one was liking my photos of my
morning smoothie bowls even though I was
using the right hashtags no one cared
that I was working at the local cinema
nothing exciting was happening in my
life at all so I decided to change that
I ran to my computer and opened
Photoshop I pulled up a selfie I take in
that morning with my green smoothie and
then I searched online for a photo of a
faraway tropical looking Beach five
minutes later I created a new account
and uploaded the photo and then I
watched and watched as slowly the likes
and comments began pouring in something
shifted inside me then people were
believing me they actually believed I
was on a proper summer vacation the next
day I shared more photos one of me
snorkeling with Turtles and then another
of me paragliding off a mountain by the
end of the week I was up to 3000
followers and it felt amazing people
were commenting and sending heart emojis
and a really famous Instagram influencer
even private messaged me to say she had
been to the same resort last year and
she hope I was having the most
incredible time my heart started racing
felt so good to be receiving all of this
attention that weekend I called insect
to work and stayed in my room talking to
all my new followers on my page my mum
asked me to babysit as usual and so I
arranged some toys for my sister to play
with on the floor was I sat at my desk
on Photoshop I was just about to share a
photo of me kissing my new Spanish
boyfriend whom I'd found on a modeling
website when I heard a crashing sound
followed by some screaming I turned
around and hadn't even noticed my door
was open I rushed out and there was my
baby sister crying her eyes out she had
fallen and banged her head and it was
all my fault I dropped my phone and ran
to pick her up and comfort her she clung
on to me and soon I was crying - in that
moment I barely recognized myself I'd
always been a good student
I'd never called in sick to work before
and it's not like I had no friends so
what was I playing at after my sister
had calmed down I picked up my phone I
clicked on Instagram and suddenly I just
felt sick what had I done looking
through my past week of photos I
realized I was nothing but a liar and
then I thought to myself what if
everyone I know is doing the same thing
what if Colette wasn't in Bali and was
just doing headstands in her bedroom and
wait a minute what is wrong with that
why are we trying to make our lives seem
more glamorous
what's wrong with posting photos of our
cats or photos of us in our garden I had
become so obsessed with getting
followers that I did Nord my baby sister
who could have got badly hurt
and I'd even ignored my real friends I
immediately deleted the account I'd
created and went back to enjoying my
real life because when I really thought
about it my life was actually pretty
exciting just the way it was and I
certainly didn't need likes or followers
to remind me of that sometimes we just
need a little scare to wake us up now
and again and bring us back to reality
and hey reality is pretty cool isn't it
I've realized that just being real and
authentic is so much more important than
telling lies just to get likes so the
next time you share something on
Instagram just be yourself
what do you think of this story feel
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