--- title: Stop the Pressure to Be Perfect on Social Media description: Half the Story is place to leave social personas behind and create a community of supportive dialogue around who we really are. canonical: https://time.com/4443346/half-the-story-social-media-pressure/ author: Larissa May article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-10T12:00:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:03:05.956Z og:title: Why I Left My Perfect Instagram Persona Behind og:description: 'I wasn’t living my dream at all, I was telling #halfthestory' og:url: https://time.com/4443346/half-the-story-social-media-pressure/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3a3b36df5bca1fa/698899082dce015f489e9943/smartphone2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Motto stock og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why I Left My Perfect Instagram Persona Behind twitter:description: 'I wasn’t living my dream at all, I was telling #halfthestory' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3a3b36df5bca1fa/698899082dce015f489e9943/smartphone2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why I Left My Perfect Instagram Persona Behind by [Larissa May](https://time.com/author/larissa-may/) ## Larissa May Aug 10, 2016 12:00 PM UTC  Martin Gee for TIME by [Larissa May](https://time.com/author/larissa-may/) ## Larissa May Aug 10, 2016 12:00 PM UTC The sound of my pulse echoed in my head as I pushed through a group of huddled photographers outside of Penn Station at New York Fashion Week. Looking down, I only had 15 minutes to make it to the next show. The subway doors began to close as I fought through crowds of passengers and onto the platform, forcing my way onboard. Pacing anxiously, watching the clock for the next five stops, I bolted off the train and sprinted up the stairs and into the blinding daylight. BAM! I found myself face down on the concrete, gripping a shattered phone, staring down at my skinned knees. _Glamorous, right?_ I gathered my scattered belongings and remaining dignity, fighting back tears and trying to ignore the burning sensation in my legs. In an enterprising feat, I made it to the show on time, wiping away tears and sweat on the cuff of my jean jacket as I walked in. As I regained my composure, I was overwhelmed by the realization that I was [“living my dream.”](http://motto.time.com/4356811/find-dream-job/) Or so you’d think from looking at the situation from the outside. Three years ago, I was a college kid with a blog and a dream. And now, here I was covering NYFW for respected media outlets. After the show ended and I was able to decompress, I began sifting through my photos looking for my next great Instagram shot. The winner? A picture of myself on a street corner. My fingers quickly drafted the caption, _“Jay Chillin’ street side pt.3,”_ and pressed post without much thought. But this time, I was consumed by [social media guilt](http://motto.time.com/4255946/signs-break-social-media/). I hid behind my carefree caption failing to share the truth behind my overwhelming anxiety, sleep deprivation, physical pain and feeling of inadequacy. I wasn’t living my dream at all, I was telling #halfthestory. My Instagram feed screamed “superwoman!” — student at a top tier university, blogger, entrepreneur, sister, etc… In reality, I was barely holding it together. I neglected to share the other side of my reality: 17-hour workdays, debilitating anxiety and behind the scenes fails (knees meet street). The more connected I became with my digital dreamworld, the less connected I was to myself. Too often we give in to the pressure to [craft the perfect (social) story](http://motto.time.com/4378414/blogger-tiffany-brien-stomach/), and we limit our ability to access the full range of human connection that comes from being vulnerable and showing our honest selves. I returned to New York six months later for February’s Fashion Week to speak at the Soho House on a panel about Social Storytelling where I introduced my new platform [@halfthestory](https://www.instagram.com/halfthestory/): A place to [leave social personas behind](http://motto.time.com/4417658/adele-makeup-free-instagram/) and create a community of supportive dialogue around who we really are when we’re not crafting ourselves for perfection. Interested in checking us out? Head over to Instagram and join the movement at @[halfthestory](http://instagram.com/halfthestory). _Larissa May, also known as_ [_@livinlikelarz_](https://www.instagram.com/livinlikelarz/)_, is a blogger, creative consultant and founder of #Halfthestory, a social media platform that encourages authentic storytelling and true human connection._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4443346/half-the-story-social-media-pressure/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4443346/half-the-story-social-media-pressure/"},"headline":"Why I Left My Perfect Instagram Persona Behind","datePublished":"2016-08-10T12:00:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:03:05.956Z","description":"'I wasn’t living my dream at all, I was telling #halfthestory'","url":"https://time.com/4443346/half-the-story-social-media-pressure/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3a3b36df5bca1fa/698899082dce015f489e9943/smartphone2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Larissa May","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/larissa-may/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3a3b36df5bca1fa/698899082dce015f489e9943/smartphone2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Motto stock","caption":"","creditText":"Martin Gee for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4443346/half-the-story-social-media-pressure/","name":"Why I Left My Perfect Instagram Persona Behind"}}]}] ```