Well-being, tips, challenge

Be Kind

Social Media: Friend or Foe?

Victoria Summersgill

Nowadays, you have to go out of your way to avoid social media. Almost everyone has at least one social platform and it’s become a habit for most of us to spend some time scrolling every day. Social media can be great (the puppy videos!) but it can be helpful, every now and then, to think about the effect it has on us.

social media

Social media can have an effect on our body image and mental health. It’s a breeding ground for comparison and even if we know people are only sharing their highlights, it’s still hard to remind yourself of that when you’re watching someone sipping a cocktail on the beach from your sofa! If this feeling sounds familiar, hopefully our top 3 tips to use your socials in a positive way will help.

  1. Set a time limit – How many of us have said we’ll just spend 5 minutes catching up on our socials the next thing you know an hour has slipped by. Setting time limits on your most used (or all) apps can help us use social media more intentionally.
  2. Diversify – The advantage of social media, however, is that we can design our feed to be a positive space. If everyone on your social media looks the same, it isn’t very reflective of the real world around you. Be deliberate in who you follow and unfollow anyone who makes you feel unhappy!
  3. Take a break if you need it – Taking a complete break from your socials for a bit can really benefit our mental health. Our practitioners Ellie and Victoria gave up social media for a month to see what difference it made. They both found they had a lot more time for other activities like reading or getting outside. More importantly, they both noticed an improvement to their mental health.

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Sources: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S174014451400148X

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