WOMAN’S SIDE-BY-SIDE PHOTOS HIGHLIGHT INSTAGRAM VS. REALITY
Sara Puhto wants her followers to understand that what they see on Instagram is often not how things appear in real life. The 23-year-old Finnish woman frequently shares fitness and lifestyle tips with her 325,000 followers. She recently posted a series of side-by-side photos showcasing how wildly different social media can be from reality. Puhto wrote, "I can make my body look smaller from certain angles, by sucking in and flexing ridiculous amounts... But that’s not how I really look 99% of the time. Society has convinced us that this is ‘aesthetic’". She then adds, "We need to realize there is beauty in everyone and in being human". Puhto told Insider that she started sharing photos of her fitness progression on Instagram in 2015. She adds that only select images taken from her best angles are shared, as many influencers do. Realizing her social media image might be making others feel insecure, Puhto set out to share “what I really looked like most of the time...”. in hopes it would help followers realize “this perfection we’re chasing doesn’t actually exist"
