Between basing self worth from the amount of likes you get to comparing yourself to edited photos of people you don't know, social media can be a very toxic environment for many people. Without the knowing the proper steps to keeping your social media a healthy place it can deteriorate yours and others mental health. Social media platforms thrive on peoples interactions, so they build their platforms to make us addicted and attached to them. Take Instagram for instance, when you post, people can like and comment on it for everyone to see. When this happens it can give you a sense of happiness but it is short lived, so you go back to post again. While the Instagram comments and likes might seem like a positive for you AND for Instagram, this cycle of posting, checking, and reading, can actually can lead to lowered self esteem, increased anxiety, increased depression, and body image issues. These mental effects of social media can happen from more than just posting. It can also happen from simply seeing others posts. Like most social media platforms, there are popular Instagram followers that posts beautiful pictures almost daily. Everyone usually loves and supports this person, but sometimes it can lead to envy and jealousy of their lifestyle and their body. When this happens, the mind starts to develop lowered self esteem, body images issues, ect... What people don't see from this persons life is the work that it takes to make their life seem like that, the long photoshoots to get the perfect photo, the emotional effects it can have on that person, ect...
Those are just two ways Instagram can mess with your mental health but there are many more ways on many more platforms. Because of the insane amount of toxicity involved in social media, some people delete the social media platforms all together. While this might work for some, for others it might be better to work through the toxicity and make it a healthier environment for yourself and others. Social media is not going away and avoiding it forever might not fix the situation or mental issues it causes so working through them and bettering your mental health with it is a good alternative option. This process of making it a healthier environment is also good for after you do a social media detox and you are ready to get back. So let's talk about how you can do this process.
STEP 1. One way to start this process is to hide like counts. And for those who wish, take off the commenting option as well. While this seems like a small step, it can actually alleviate the pressure of the cycle we mentioned before. When the likes are not visible to everyone, you might not feel as judged or compared because there is no number for others to compare it to. When you take commenting off, you won't be able to base your worth off of something that isn't there anymore. Not only is this step good for you, it is also good for others. Other people who see you do this, might feel less likely to compare themselves to you or your life if they have no idea what anyone else thinks of you and your life. Other people might also follow suit in this step and the healthier environment can begin to spread.
STEP 2. After you begin to do that, you can start to take pictures for the sake of the memories. Instead of looking at Instagram like it is a social media platform where you post for others, look at it like an online memory album for yourself to look back on. When you look at Instagram in this new light, you can begin to take pictures for yourself and post for yourself rather than doing it for others. You can take photos of places you are, things you eat, selfies you took, ect... whatever makes you the most comfortable and happy. When you post for yourself, there is no need to take pictures like everyone else does, you can take photos of what you want to, not what you feel pressured to take.
STEP 3. Once you can take photos for yourself again, you can begin writing for yourself. A caption with no meaning might not be for you. Maybe you are someone who wants to look back on your memory album and see a story or someone who wants be reminded of a funny joke from that time. Whatever you wish to be reminded of, you can write about that instead of a meaningless caption. On the other hand though, there might be people who struggle when it comes to words, so you can post without a word and make that your brand. Or maybe you post with an emoji that has a meaning behind it that can remind you of something that happened in that photo or that time. Whatever you decide, make it for yourself and think about what you want to think of and read when you revisit the picture.
STEP 4. Unfollow the people who keep you from having a healthy social media environment. If there are people who you often compare yourself to, or you have outgrown, ect... then unfollow them. Unfollowing people has a negative connotation, but sometimes it is necessary to keep your mental state positive and healthy. It is healthier to remove them or unfollow them so that you are posting without fear of judgement and scroll without feeling the need to compare yourself. Your goal in this step is to follow the people that make you feel good about yourself and remove the people who you compare yourself to or you feel judged by.
STEP 5. Set a time limit on yourself. As we said before, social media platforms thrive on interaction so they design their platform to keep you on there as long as possible. The constant scrolling on Instagram is just as bad for your mental health as the rest of Instagram. Not only does the extended screen time effect your brain, it can lead to anxiety, depression, feelings of loneliness, lack of sleep, ect... To stop this habit of scrolling for hours, you can set a time limit on your phone or set a timer for when to get off Instagram. 30 minutes max on Instagram is a good starting place, and you can go smaller as you continue this process. The less time you spend, the healthier Instagram will be for you.
These are five basic steps to begin a healthier environment on Instagram. Some of these steps might work for you, some might not. It is best to try them out and test which ones are working for you and making it a healthier environment for you. The healthier your environment is and the more authentically you, you are, the healthier the environment of Instagram will be for others. Seeing someone being themselves and posting what they want not what the feel they need to, can inspire others to follow suit and make their own environment healthier. We hope these steps lead you to a healthier Instagram environment. Happy Monday and happy first BE era Magazine blog post of 2022!
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