Hear what you want

Beats by Dre commercial with Colin Kaepernick

Following this weekends' road to the Superbowl game between the Seahawks and 49ers, Kaepernick may be needing his beats!

I especially like this ad because it shows how crucial staying impermeable to outside sources can be on an individuals mental strength and attitude. Given the constant social bombardment of today's world and how individuals are given a false sense of confidence to say whatever they please on social media sites; the importance of "hearing what you want" is a crucial part of developing self-confidence and self-image.

I understand that not every individual is a professional athlete, nor will they experience such conditions as illustrated in this ad, but the concept remains the same. Buy noise cancelling headphones, real or proverbial, to shut out the world.

The overwhelming influx of comments, whether positive of negative undoubtedly have their effects on peoples psyches. This, I believe is an element outlined by the following Dove ad campaign. In this campaign, an image of self understood beauty is contrasted with how others view these individuals.



When I fist saw this ad, I was blown away at how these women perceived themselves, but then I thought about it and in reality, I think its safe to say that it's not far from reality. I think the idea of real, perceived and ideal beauty ties into the understanding of the actual self and the ideal self.

The actual self, plainly put, is who you are as an individual, when the ideal self is who you would like people to see. In a perfect world, the ideal self would line up with the actual self and there would be little discrepancy between who we actually are to who we portray ourselves to be.

So, why isn't this the case?

Is it merely a coincidence that self confidence has dwindled given the rise of social media?