On Instagram, success has a look, it’s luxury cars, designer outfits, vacation photos, and dinner plates at high-end restaurants. But behind many of these glossy displays lies a different story, one of debt, insecurity, and constant pressure to perform.
Across Nigeria, especially in cities like Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt, a growing number of young people are caught up in what can best be described as a performance of success. They want to look rich, even when they are not, they want to appear fulfilled, even when they are struggling.
The rise of social media has blurred the line between real achievement and staged appearances. It has also created a culture where people spend more time appearing successful than becoming successful.
Borrowed Lifestyles, Borrowed Identities
It starts small, with a borrowed wig for an event, a rented outfit for a photoshoot, and a friend’s car used for “content.” Then it grows. Soon, the person begins to live the lie.
Comedian and actor Ayo Makun, popularly known as AY, recently called out this culture of fake living. In a viral Instagram video, he said many social media personalities are living on “borrowed wigs and outfits.” He compared social media to a movie set, where everyone plays a role, a carefully arranged illusion meant to impress.
AY’s words struck a chord, they exposed a truth many prefer to hide: the digital version of life often has little to do with the real one.
Scroll through Instagram and you will find endless images of people posing in hotel lobbies, taking mirror selfies beside luxury cars, or flaunting expensive designer labels. But what you don’t see are the unpaid bills, borrowed items, and mental strain behind those smiles.
A 27-year-old Lagos-based fashion stylist who asked not to be named said, “I have styled influencers who can’t afford the clothes they wear online. They rent them, shoot content for a few hours, and return everything the same day. It’s business for me, but sometimes it’s sad to watch.”
Also we have seen designers call out celebrities on social media for failing to pay for their outfits and other things.
The Pressure to Be Seen
The obsession with appearances is not new, but social media has amplified it. Everyone wants to be seen as doing well to look successful even before success comes.
Platforms like Instagram and TikTok have turned life into a competition for validation. Likes, comments, and views are now markers of worth. The more engagement a post gets, the more people feel they matter.
A content creator from Lekki admitted that she often feels pressured to “keep up.” “I can’t post pictures from home because my apartment doesn’t look fine enough,” she said. “I prefer to book a short-let apartment for the weekend, take pictures, and post them gradually. People think I live there, and that helps me attract brand deals.”
It’s a loop that never ends, spend money to look rich, so you can gain followers, so you can get opportunities that might finally make you rich.
But the danger lies in how much of one’s identity gets lost in that loop, many people no longer know who they are without the validation that comes from their next post.
When Fame Becomes a Mask
The line between personal life and performance has become thin, everyone now plays a role, the “rich babe,” the “travel influencer,” the “tech bro.”
What started as a way to share moments has become a contest of who can fake it best. The need to stay visible and relevant fuels risky spending habits, lies, and emotional exhaustion.
AY’s comment that “social media is like a movie set” couldn’t be more accurate. The lighting, the poses, the rented spaces, everything is curated. It’s not real life, but a version of it made for the camera.
And just like actors, many of these individuals go home after the performance to face their real struggles, unpaid rent, family pressure, unstable income, and loneliness.
For some, this double life leads to breakdowns. Some times ago , a young influencer in Abuja made headlines after admitting online that most of her “luxury trips” were paid for with borrowed money. “I got tired of pretending,” she confessed in a now-deleted post. “It felt like living two lives.”
The Cost of Keeping Up
The fake lifestyle trend doesn’t only affect those living it, It also affects those watching.
Ordinary people scroll through social media and start feeling left behind, they begin to question their progress and lose confidence in their steady, genuine efforts.
A 2024 study by a Lagos-based digital research group found that 64% of young adults aged 18 to 35 admitted feeling anxious after using social media for more than 30 minutes. The most common cause was comparison, seeing peers who appeared to be doing better.
This “comparison culture” pushes more people into the same trap. They start thinking, If everyone around me is winning, why not fake mine too?
It’s a silent epidemic, one driven by insecurity, not greed, everyone just wants to belong, to matter, to be seen.
Inside the Business of Fake Living
Interestingly, the fake lifestyle has become an actual business. There are rental services for everything, cars, designer clothes, and even luxury homes for content days. You can rent a Ferrari for a few hours in Lagos and take photos for your “soft life” post.
Hotels and Airbnb apartments offer hourly packages for influencers who just need a fancy background. Some stylists now have special rates for “photo-use-only” wardrobe selections.
In short, illusion sells, and people are willing to pay for it. But there is a catch, the more this fake glamour spreads, the harder it becomes for real success to stand out. Genuine achievements often get lost in the noise of make-believe.
A marketing executive put it simply: We have reached a point where you need to prove your authenticity. If your success looks too good, people assume it’s fake, that’s how deep the problem has gone.”
The Mental Toll No One Talks About
Behind the smiles and filters, many “soft life” enthusiasts battle anxiety, loneliness, and exhaustion. The constant need to maintain an image leaves no room for rest.
Psychologists describe this as validation fatigue, a condition where the endless chase for approval leads to emptiness and burnout.
Some people even fall into debt trying to maintain their fake image. Loans, credit cards, and borrowed money go into buying outfits or paying for fake luxury experiences, all for a few hours of attention.
And when the likes stop coming, reality hits hard.
The Quiet Return to Realness
Interestingly, a shift is beginning to happen, a small but growing number of Nigerians are rejecting fake living and embracing authenticity.
They post their true stories, the hustle, the imperfections, the struggles. They talk about not having everything figured out, and people respond to it positively.
The Need for a Cultural Reset
The fake lifestyle trend says a lot about the kind of society Nigeria is becoming, one obsessed with appearances and quick success.
Social media didn’t create this hunger, it only magnified it, the real problem lies in how we now define worth. Too often, wealth and popularity are seen as the only valid measures of success.
But there is another kind of success, one that doesn’t need validation. The kind built quietly through work, honesty, and growth.
AY’s message reminds us that social media is just a highlight reel, not a life manual. Everyone has their journey, comparing yours to someone else’s edited version only steals your peace.
Choosing Real Over Fake
At the heart of it, fake living is a trap, It promises recognition but delivers emptiness. It creates envy instead of inspiration, It makes people spend time performing instead of improving.
READ ALSO: ‘Borrowed Wigs, Rented Clothes’ – Comedian AY Slams Fake Celebrity Lifestyle
Living genuinely doesn’t mean rejecting comfort or ambition, It means being honest about where you are and working towards where you want to be without lies, without pretense.
The truth is, no one’s life is as perfect as it looks online. And pretending doesn’t make it better.
So next time you scroll through your feed and feel that urge to compare, pause and ask yourself, Is it real? Or is it just another borrowed moment meant to impress?
In conclusion, the culture of fake lifestyles is more than just a trend, it’s a reflection of a society obsessed with appearances. It feeds on insecurity, thrives on comparison, and drains authenticity.
AY’s recent comments didn’t just expose the lies on social media, they reminded us of the emptiness that comes with chasing illusions.
The challenge now is personal, to choose honesty over performance, contentment over competition, and purpose over pretense.
Because at the end of the day, it’s not the borrowed wigs, designer tags, or filtered smiles that define you, it’s the truth you live when the camera is off.