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Social media is an inseparable part of our modern society; we can hardly imagine our lives without it anymore. But the way we actually live our reality and what we put out to the world to see can be slightly, or drastically, different. There are two kinds of people on social media—those who have a glam, pitch-perfect life, and those who like to keep it real. With Geraldine West, you get the best of both worlds. The German influencer pokes fun at flawless and cliché Instagram photos and reveals what they would look like if social media was honest.

We've previously featured West's hilarious "Instagram vs. Reality" parody series that shows side-by-side pictures of herself, and occasionally her little pug, in the same exact situations, but from a completely different perspective. A perspective we can all relate to. So next time you get upset or bitter scrolling through 'perfect' feeds on social media, remember to never trust what you see, because you would be surprised by how many takes and filters go into snapping the winning 'Instagrammable' shot that gets posted.

What do you think of West's quirky collages? Let us know in the comments and upvote the ones you relate to the most!

More info: Instagram

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Emmy
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The first one looks like something that my toxic ex-bff would take a pic of.

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The trend of posting "Instagram vs. Reality" photos has been around for a few years now as a response to idealized photographs and their possible effect on social media users who might feel they are not up to the "new standard." These honest photos became a breath of fresh air on the platform and showed the "imperfect" side of photos, which is much more relatable. If you want to see more humorous "Instagram vs. Reality" parodies, check out these women who are on top of their game here, here, and here.

Influencers have a lot of power when it comes to forming unrealistic beauty and lifestyle standards, but they often forget to balance out their content with a dash of reality, not realizing how it might affect their followers. But we at Bored Panda remember and have created a few posts exposing Instagram's fakest photos here and here to remind everyone to use social media with extreme caution.

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Bow, I’m a Slytherin
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Good old Aldi lol. I’m really upset because the one down the road from where I live is closing 😔

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Social media can be a great platform for self-expression and self-identity, but with millions of photos posted on Instagram every day, each one can contribute to how we perceive ourselves. If we start comparing our daily lives with shiny and utterly unrealistic images that are posted, it eventually affects our mental health, particularly on self-esteem and body image.

According to a survey by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) conducted of almost 1,500 young people from across the UK, Instagram scored as the most detrimental to young people’s mental health and wellbeing among other social media platforms and was associated with anxiety, depression, bullying, and the fear of missing out.

A 2019 study by Marika Tiggemann and Isabella Anderberg revealed that the "Instagram vs. reality" trend that shows idealized and more realistic depictions of the same person side-by-side makes a somewhat positive change: "exposure to the paired ‘Instagram vs reality’ and real images resulted in a decrease in body dissatisfaction, relative to exposure to the ideal images."

While some people like Geraldine West mock the flaws of social media by putting a humorous spin on it and creating parodies, others reveal how those "perfect" photos are made. We've previously shared a few posts that show the candid behind-the-scenes of pitch-perfect photos posted on social media, and it seems that glamorous and creative results can be achieved without a professional setting and a whole team of people. Check out these posts for some inspiration here, here, here, here, and here.

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BlockDog02
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

True. It's just too hard to just eat carrots with those pringles staring at you from across the room.

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Beebull
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I feel like Instagram is photoshopped because she doesn’t have a shadow unless she’s a vampire

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Raven Sheridan
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ducklips? Check. Dumb pose? Check. Vacant, dead-eyed expression? Double check!

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Jayne Kyra
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Nose pore strip on the forehead is something I have definitely done.

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#30

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Note: this post originally had 58 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.