Earlier on, Bored Panda reached out to the head moderator of Instagram Reality, Zaza9000. They told us they try to keep this online community easy to engage with and be a part of, which is one of the reasons why this subreddit has become so popular. “Last year, so many people have shared interesting stories from their personal lives,” the moderator added, saying they really hope this trend continues.

As of today, this online group has amassed more than 1M members who reveal how some Instagrammers go way overboard with their photoshopping skills. However, Zaza9000 said that recently there has been more and more interest in video editing. “Especially apps like Facetune2 and SNOW that allow you to edit your body and certain Instagram filters that can make your lips appear bigger and make your skin unrealistically perfect. Seeing them glitch in videos has been a really popular topic on the sub,” they explained.

Zaza9000 continued: “For us non-influencer regular people, of course, travel isn’t always an option, especially if it’s just for a vacation away. Unfortunately, there have been a few influencers that don’t care, to be blunt. Some of them feel like traveling and being on vacation is necessary and well-deserved even though people in the medical field, teachers, retail workers, etc. don’t get to just jump on a jet and get away.”

Moreover, some Instagrammers fake their whole lives. Whether they do it to collect followers, attract attention, or simply show that their life is worthy to be looked at, people can be greatly affected by seeing such manipulations online. In a previous interview, Dr. Cortney Warren told Bored Panda that people tend to lie on social media. They usually do that “by presenting an image of themselves and their lives that reflects what they wish were true.”

A board-certified clinical psychologist and author of Lies We Tell Ourselves: The Psychology of Self-Deception thinks that they want to show “a more glamorous version of themselves and their lives that shows the fun, interesting parts of themselves and ignores the blemishes.”

“Although selective self-presentation and lying about ourselves on social media may not seem like a surprise (or even a big deal), it can affect us greatly,” Warren noted. We humans have a natural tendency to believe that others are honest with us. “A large body of research suggests that we are programmed to trust others. Although the reasons for our tendency to trust are complex, without interpersonal connectedness and a fundamental belief that those around will support you, protect you, and treat you respectfully, we feel unsafe.”

So when people are dishonest on social media, it can be problematic. “We internally presume that what is presented is true,” she explained. “That people are naturally as good-looking as their photos appear. That people’s daily home life is as perfect as the pictures depict. That others have very few gut-wrenching struggles. That people around us are in a habitual state of going on vacation, eating out, and parenting blissfully.”

“This is clearly not true,” the psychologist explained. “And although we are less aware of the realities of other people’s lives, we are well aware of the ways in which our own lives are NOT ideal.” When we compare ourselves with “the idealized images and unreasonably positive life accounts that tend to permeate social media, we are likely to feel more poorly about ourselves and our lives.”

Warren told us that there’s a growing body of research suggesting that “social media use can negatively affect your psychological health, particularly if you compare yourself to the people or images you see online.” She mentioned a study of 339 college women, where “the tendency to compare oneself to others was associated with poorer body esteem and a greater desire to use social media to make such body comparisons.”

We all lie—and on social media, this is rampant. “Often, people do it to try to project an image of what they wish were true. To make ourselves look more beautiful. Smarter. More successful. As though we have a more fun life!”

Warren advised you, dear readers, to be fully honest with yourselves. “If you catch yourself in the act of lying, pause. Ask yourself why you are doing it. As you understand what’s motivating your lies, you can be more honest with yourself about who you want to be and how you want to act,” she concluded.