Social Media & Self Esteem

Feeling bad because of everyone else's social media feed? Don't! Take a step back and doing something else that will make you happy.
It’s no secret that I love social media. My Instagram feed is carefully curated, Facebook is a god send for keeping me in touch with friends across the world, and pretty much all the traffic that makes it’s way to this site comes via the magical medium of Twitter. Those are the circumstances where social media makes life easier and more pleasant. That is where we have benefited from it’s technological charm.

But sometimes, just sometimes, scrolling through social media is like being repeatedly slapped by someone screaming at you “you’re not good enough”. You’re not as pretty as her.. scroll… they have more friends than you.. scroll… isn’t everyone else having fun whilst you’re curled up in bed?

That’s when social media is pretty terrible for my self-esteem, it becomes proof for my perceived failings and I’m willing to bet I’m not the only one. We all know that we’re only posting the best versions of ourselves online, I don’t think that’s a secret, but somehow we forget this as we click through pretty picture after pretty picture. 

I’m not blaming social media for this, it is merely the vehicle for my flawed self-esteem. But, as part of the quest towards self-improvement, I’m learning to take a step back. When I start feeling like this there is a choice to be made: torture myself, or treat myself. Of course, like the responsible mental health advocate that I am, I opt for the latter. Now whenever I start feeling terrible I pick up a book, and absorb myself in a fictional world. I waste so much time on social media, and when it’s not even making me happy what’s the point? The outcome of this new strategy is that I feel better and I’m reading more than ever before.
Happiness is found when you stop comparing yourself to other people

We are responsible for the choices we make, and we are responsible for our happiness. When those nasty doubting fears start creeping in, grab them and throw them back out. You are pretty, you do have a lot of friends who care about you, and your social media feed makes your life look every bit as perfect as someone else’s, but it’s just a shiny veneer. 

So when the self esteem starts to crumble it’s time to say no thank you to social media. Will you join me? 

6 comments:

  1. Loved this so much and I definitely agree! I mean I do love social media but I definitely waste quite a lot of time on there. I've got a lot better at it these past two or three months though, I spend less time on my phone and I turn it off am hour before I go to bed. Social media can be a great source of inspiration but like you said sometimes it can influence us in a bad way as well and then the nest thing you can do is just step away from it for a while. Thank you for this reminder x

    Sara / aboutlittlethiings.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank you so much for your comment Sara, I'm glad you agree. It sounds like you have some really great habits, I definitely want to follow your example of turning my phone off an hour before bed xxx

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  2. Loved this, totally agree. Sometimes you just need to put the phone down and have a break! :-)

    moremindfulyou.blogspot.com

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    1. I'm really glad you agree, thank you for your comment! xxxx

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  3. Totally agree! But social media can bring so much fun too, so I try not to let it ruin my self-esteem ;)

    elisedorothea.blogspot.com

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  4. Hi there, so many underestimate the power of social media in its influence on people. It's hard not to ignore all the teams of photos and stories and not compare with them how inadequate or unsuitable you are by comparison. It's is the down fall of social media. The complete opposite of everything that's great about it x

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