‘Why do I keep scrolling?’
Hey Sunflowers,
Social media has a huge impact on our lives. Although social media has been a wonderful tool in connecting friends and family disconnected in the physical sense, it has also birthed feelings of jealousy, comparison and inadequacy. Maybe even the need to look like life is good at all times. For large amounts of time throughout my life I have deleted social media. Most of my fasts from the apps started because I found myself wasting time scrolling, or worse, comparing myself and living my life trying to get the perfect Instagram picture and listening at all times for Instagram captions.
I would always eventually download the apps back and find myself scrolling, yet again, for hours. Feeling bad about myself because my stomach doesn’t look like that, double tap, I could never afford to eat there, double tap, wow that purse is fire, screenshot & double tap, OMG this is his birthday party?
So, why do I keep scrolling?
I mean after all the above mentioned thoughts have flown through my head, why do I keep coming back for more? These thoughts aren’t healthy at all. They bring on thoughts of jealousy, comparison and inadequacy. The effects of these thoughts were terrible. Why would I keep coming back to a place that forced me to feel so bad about myself? That forced me to have goals like going here, with this outfit and taking this picture. Instagram culture is such a huge part of our lives that we don’t even notice how STRANGE it really is. Peoples lives could be terrible but as long as it looks good on Instagram, they are the people we want to be like.
Here are three tips that help me when I start to feel like social media has gotten to me:
Would I feel like this if I hadn’t seen that picture?
Every time I leave Instagram feeling low it was usually sparked by a specific picture or group of pictures. So first, I am cognizant enough to be able to track the source of my feelings. Then, I ask myself would I feel like this if I hadn’t seen the picture. Usually, the answer is no! I let that answer be the permission I need to stop feeling like that! And if the content is from the same person, eventually, I mute them!
2. Social media limits each day
I have an hour long social media usage time set on my phone. When I first began using the time limit, I would find myself just adding 15 minutes four to five times throughout the day. Well finally I had the genius idea of letting someone else, like my boyfriend, select a password that I would need in order to extend my time limit. That way even if I wanted to extend the limit I couldn’t. This has helped me actually follow the limit I felt I needed for my mental health.
3. Remembering Reality
Social media feels like reality, but the truth of the matter is, it is not. Instagram and Twitter are the parts of people’s lives they choose to share. So when I find myself comparing my life to someones on social media. I remember, this is not their reality. These are the parts they have decided to share with us and it is an important distinguishing factor.
Although I jokingly say I am going to delete all my social media pages for the rest of my life, social media can be helpful. It can help build your brand, expose you to opportunities you may not have otherwise known about and even can connect you with people across the world. Don’t let it be the thing that makes you feel bad about you because it happens so fast!
I hope these tips help you like that have helped me. Let me know in the comments what you do to aid in the social media struggle.
forever blooming,
Mikaela Amira
