Nowadays, a day gone by without using any social media, whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Snapchat, can be hard to imagine. It’s where we keep track of our connections, friends, and networks. We use them for daily communication, keeping track of events, posting pictures of our delicious meals/social outings with friends/cute selfies with a filter overtop. You can even shop marketed items on social media, run a business, or have it be your career entirely. Most notably, it’s a place to which we can escape to during uncomfortable moments or even during mundane activities, like waiting in lines, or riding the bus or subway to work. Along these lines, there is a negative narrative about social media and how it’s ruining our attention spans, increasing our narcissism, lowering our self-esteem, and decreasing our overall well-being. And even if that’s all true, it’s may be unrealistic or increasingly difficult to imagine our lives in the Western world without this technology.
You may have even had urges, like me, of completely removing yourself from social media – but this comes with the loss of connection to the highly interconnected social media world. That being said, social media is what you make of it – it is not inherently bad nor good; it’s how we decide to use it.
How to Have a Healthy Relationship with Social Media
1-Delay checking your socials in the morning. Begin your day by connecting with the present moment and reminding yourself that there is life outside of your social media. By avoiding this initial checking it will be easier to reduce your usage throughout the day.
2-Avoid using it up until you fall asleep: consider meditating, journaling or reading a book before bed. Using social media late into the night can cause sleep disturbances, which can lead to depression and anxiety.
3-Check with yourself before opening an app: are you doing this as an intrinsic habit or do you genuinely want to go on to post something mindfully?
4-Remind yourself that you don’t have to share everything. Your life is yours to enjoy and not sharing does not make it any less important.
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