How Perception Can Be Deceiving Research Paper

Perception is how people interpret something they see or hear. These ideas are believed easily because it is what they want to see or hear. The reality is never what people think of first. They see something and that's what they recognize it to be, even if it is wrong. Some things can be deceiving, but is perceived as something great. The perception within social media is that people are all perfect and famous, but in reality it is something that deceives and should not be trusted.
The first thing young teenagers think when they see an instagram account with many, many followers is: they must be very popular and famous. Even if these young adults have nothing to be famous for. “For the first time, people are getting famous regardless of their talent” (Murakami). Youtubers post numerous videos with just them talking and people perceive them as being entertaining, and as a result they receive multitudes of followers. Other people look at these countless followers and think they must be very well known.

Another thing that teenagers, mostly young girls, will think when they see these accounts with a lot of followers and beautiful pictures is: they are perfect and have a perfect life.

“Watch any of the "reality" television shows starring beautiful people, and you'll see something we cultivate in our culture: the pursuit of perfection”(Howard). When people perceive them as being perfect they want to be perfect, too. The idea of perfect is a beautiful face and skinny body. “ women are looking to people like themselves for beauty inspiration—or more specifically, to the women they see while scrolling through social media”(Katz). People look to these other people on social media and think they are

perfect.
The reality of social media can be deceiving. What it looks like people are doing aren't really what they are doing. “So I, like most people, post the things that are going to reflect the best aspects of my life and personality”( Muenter). Instagrammers usually post all the good stuff in their life,so people then think they are having a great life. “It's more like, all the best parts of you displayed to the world and ignoring all the worst parts”(Muenter). The reality is they want people to think they are perfect so they leave out the bad stuff they are going through. If the people who post things are altering their pictures and excluding their imperfect life choices, then they are deceiving us. Therefore social media should not be trusted.
In conclusion, social media is perceived that the people are all famous and perfect but in reality is is deceiving and distrustful. When people look at different instagrammers and youtubers they believe they are perfect and famous, because these teenagers on social media leave out their bad sides. In reality social media is deceiving because it doesn't show all sides of their life. Which leads to social media should not be trusted, because in reality it is not what it looks like.