Hash ### Tags

With the new year comes new stories. New stories with the theme of Social Media. Kicking off my first story is Leo, a Sagittarius (see what I did there😂), who is obsessed with…Social Media. I call this story Hash###Tags.

The light from the screen was the last thing Leo saw before he went to sleep after midnight, and the first thing he reached for at 6:00 AM. After a 5-minute shower, he posted photos of his organic cheese omelet and dark roast coffee with MCT oil.

The Caption: Keto-Power Fuel #Optimal Wellness Plate

The Reality: The eggs and cheese had added carbohydrates and preservatives from a microwavable fast food breakfast meal. He took a few bites and headed out the door with steaming coffee.

Standing in the middle of Verdant Haven, a popular and crowded botanical garden, Leo ignored the scent of blooming jasmine and lilac. He was there for the perfect Instagram post. After spending twenty minutes adjusting his camera on a tripod, he waited for the sun to hit the glass panes of the conservatory at just the right angle to create a candid flare. As visitors unintentionally blocked his cam in the filled space, he shot them a dirty look as they tried to enjoy the scent and view of the gardens.

When he finally took the shot, he didn’t look at the horizon. He looked at the preview on his iPhone, adding filters to enhance his appearance in the afternoon light.

The Caption: Finding peace in the quiet place #Mindfulness #NatureLover.

The Reality: He elbowed a tourist to get in the perfect spot as his legs cramped from holding a pose that looked relaxed but required the core strength of a gymnast to maintain. The crowd returned his dirty looks as the auto timer clicked.

By noon, the post had 412 likes. Every notification on his phone felt like a tiny hit of adrenaline. However, as the afternoon wore on, the numbers began to slow.

Leo found himself scrolling through Julian’s IG feed. Julian, a YouTube influencer, was at a beach surrounded by beautiful women in bikinis and blue water. He smiled while showing off an expensive watch and a fruity drink. Julian’s #NatureLover moment looked better than his candid flare. Suddenly, the photo Leo had been so proud of looked staged, and worst of all, useless.

The #NatureLover as captioned, looked inferior. It became a hollow ache in his chest, the digital version of hunger/starvation. Leo checked like to Julian’s post, then put the tripod away, as he sulked back home.

That evening, the app crashed. A server outage plunged his world into a digital blackout.

Leo sat on his sofa, instinctively thumbing the corner of his phone, refreshing a feed that wouldn’t load. He felt panicked, as if he were disappearing. If he wasn’t on the app, did he actually exist?

The sun was setting again, casting a shadow across the living room wall. He pounded the sofa with a fist as dust mites flew from cotton fibers in the low light. Leo suppressed a growing anger as he watched the sunlight continue to fade. Tonight there would be no selfies, no hashtags, no validation. Facing the truth about himself, he admitted for the first time that he wasn’t a brand. He was just a lonely man in a dark room.

When the servers came back online the next morning, Leo’s phone exploded with notifications. He picked it up, feeling the magnetic pull of the red icon hearts.

He looked at Julian’s post on the beach, then his post at the botanical garden. Leo imagined the smell of jasmine. He sent a DM to Julian, then closed the app without waiting for a response.

Leo decided to go back to the gardens. This time, he’d leave the tripod at home. Verdant Haven was the perfect place to meet a friend for a date that was put off for much too long. Today, there would be no hashtags.