Who Let Taylor Swift Decide Our #RelationshipGoals?

I’m a big fan of goals. It’s important to want to achieve things. I‘m not a fan of the internet constantly telling me what goals I should be striving towards achieving. And putting a hashtag in front of the goal does not make me want to achieve it any more either.

#TaylorSwift

There’s something really alarming about articles and news stories based around Taylor Swift’s #squadgoals or how her relationship with Calvin Harris and accompanying Instagram photos are #relationshipgoals. The effect that these kinds of internet and social media trends have on young boys and girls is something we won’t really ever be able to accurately measure or analyse. But the impact is there and will continue to be, as long as this is the norm by internet behaviour and trend.

Let’s Talk Youth

Young people are sponges. They absorb everything around them and if they are exposed to social media in their pre-teens or early teens, these so-called #goals – to be like people they’ll never meet and whom are just people, like you or I – could prove damaging to their growth.

We shouldn’t be putting added pressure on people to be more like others. We shouldn’t be putting more emphasis on appearances and how a couple looks in a photograph that’s probably been staged or Photoshopped.

Random Teenagers = #relationshipgoals?

I came across a headline recently that said ‘Brooklyn Beckham and Chloe Grace Moretz are the ultimate couple goals in Instagram picture’.

Do not get me started on everything that is wrong with this or why a child of two famous people is now considered a “celebrity” by these silly tabloids. Too late – I’ve already started.

You cannot tell me that a teenage couple, whom most people in this universe have never heard of or are ever going to meet, are what we should all be striving to emulate when it comes to a relationship? It’s laughable.

These types of headlines and hashtags have only added to the long list of insecurities we are setting our children up for as they grow up and discover themselves. 

In terms of these so-called couple goals, it’s quite alarming the emphasis media and the like are placing on these situations, considering no-one knows what goes on in these relationships, besides the pair themselves. 

Finding The Right Icons

I do believe it’s okay for young people to look up to others, whether it be their favourite sports star or singer. But they should also be, more so, looking up to the role models who are actually a part of their lives. The people that they see regularly, who care for them, love them, and are there for them. Their family, friends, teachers, coaches, mentors.

Of course there are some people who may not have a great deal of positive role models in their lives when it comes to building a healthy relationship or eating well and being fit. Perhaps these celebrities are the only guides they have. If that’s the case, okay. But my advice would be to stay wary and be realistic.

Understand that not everything is as it seems with the internet or social media. Be mindful of who you are looking up to and perhaps try and keep the amount of celebrities or well-known figures you are following to a minimum. And remember that what works for someone else, won’t necessarily work for you. We are all different, so our goals should be, too.