A dopamine addiction dressed as confidence.

The sin of the scroll. The echo of the like. The death of authenticity.

Validation is the first in the “8 Deadly Sins of the Modern Era” because it’s the one most of us are swimming in, without realizing we’re drowning.

We dress it up as confidence. As “personal branding.” As ambition. But peel back the filters and hashtags, and what you’ll find is a generation addicted to a dopamine drip of external approval. Chasing likes. Curating lives. Desperate to be seen, while losing sight of ourselves.

This isn’t a judgment. It’s a confession.

Because I see it in others… but I’ve felt it in myself. The sting of a post that doesn’t get noticed. The momentary high of digital applause. The empty silence after the scroll stops.

This piece, a fractured human form, cracked like glass but still standing, isn’t just about social media. It’s about the human cost of needing to be enough for everyone but yourself.

The body is shattered. The face is ghosted. The heart? Still glowing, but barely. Surrounded by the hollow icons of likes, follows, fire emojis and fake affirmations.

It’s not that we want to be loved. It’s that we’ve forgotten how to love ourselves first.

This is the first sin. Not because it’s the worst—but because it’s the one that’s dressed up like virtue.

Let the reckoning begin.