In a world so consumed by social media and the internet, such things are pretty hard to avoid. However, it is important to adapt the ways these are used to make sure they don’t get the better of you and have a negative impact on your mental health. Here are three top tips to better the way you use and engage with your social media platforms…
Top tip one: Follow those who you genuinely know and care about.
It is often protocol on Instagram to follow back anybody who you vaguely know (or absolutely anyone who follows you for that matter), people that went to your school, friends of friends, people you’ve heard of and so on. However, choosing who you follow wisely can have great benefits on your general well-being. One benefit of only following people you are friends with and care about, is that you can focus your social media usage on staying up to date with what they are doing, as it can often be hard to find the time to catch up with people on a regular basis. This will also eliminate any negative thoughts or feeling that may arise towards people you perhaps don’t get a along with, or that you had a bad experience with when they pop up on your timeline. Another great benefit of this, is that it will naturally mean you follow less people and less time will consequently be spent mindlessly scrolling on your phone. This saved time and energy can be put back into focusing on yourself, being productive and finding the motivation to do something that makes you feel like the wonderful woman you are.
Top tip two: Follow pages that will positively influence you.
Whilst you can improve your social media usage by only following people who you have a genuine interest in and care about, there are other pages you can follow to make you feel good. For example, perhaps instead of following social media influencers and fitness influencers, you could follow arts pages. Following pages of this kind that focus on music, artwork and so on can invite you to explore yourself creatively, on a deeper level, in a way that can invigorate your soul and well-being. Perhaps, otherwise, you could follow pages that share inspiring stories and positive uplifting quotes, to help bring you back up on a bad day and remind you how capable you are of achieving anything that you wish to.
Top tip three: If you see something that negatively impacts your emotions, unfollow.
This is a very simple tip that feeds into the two previous points, but nonetheless a tip that can go a hell of a long way. If you see anything that makes you annoyed or down, simply unfollow the page that made that post. Whether that be seeing a picture of someone and thinking something negative about them or seeing a post that makes you feel bad about yourself – unfollow! Eliminating negative thoughts and feelings wherever possible will spare you time for your personal journey of self-love and acceptance. We need to be empowering ourselves and others and making this world a happier place for both ourselves and everybody else who lives in it.
In a nutshell, improving how you use social media is a matter of changing your perspective. Perhaps, try to see it as a platform to keep in the know with friends when you are too busy to see them, or as a platform to find inspiration from. One final yet very important note is to remember social media does not always reflect everyone’s reality and often functions as a highlight reel. So, if you’re ever having a bad day whilst it seems others live a perfect life, there is no such thing, we all have those days.
