Social Media Shouldn’t Make You Feel Like Sh*t

Social media shouldn’t make you feel like shit – what a radical concept, right?

I feel like many of us – myself included – have accepted that when it comes to social media – it’s a mixed bag. And that’s true, some aspects of it are awesome and some of them, not so much. When we talk about how terrible social media can be, we usually hear something like – “First day on the internet, huh?” or “This is what you signed up for.”

I haven’t shied away from sharing how social media has been bad for my mental health and the multiple times I’ve thought about quitting or I’ve just had to take a break. Social media can really suck.

And most of the time we just accept it as the way things are. But is this what we signed up for? What we’re experiencing on social media is so unprecedented. Three decades ago, how often did strangers go up to other strangers and berate and insult them? When someone didn’t like you, did they stand outside your house for days telling you how much?

How often in your daily life were you bombarded with things that made you feel terrible?

Even 15 years ago, the level of in your face “ugh” of social media was different.

We live in an age where we are open to mean/hurtful comments on a daily basis. While we’re trying to eat lunch, when we’re winding down for the day, in the middle of the night – constantly.

And that’s why it’s important that we have boundaries and that we use our power to control the things that we can control. That’s our responsibility.

That’s something I’ve really been focusing on this year. My social media feeds are full of music that I love, bright colorful art, and the latest KDrama news. Every day I try to share a new inspiring Instagram account in my stories.

I can’t do much about comments people post on my pages but I do my best to delete and block instead of engaging.

I’ve had to unfollow some groups and pages that I’ve really enjoyed because their comment section is always a dumpster fire but I don’t regret it and I’m happy I did it.

Here are some things that are helpful for me and might be to you.

– Unfollow groups/pages/people that drain you, annoy you, or irritate you.

– Get your news from websites instead of social media. You can also block or hide any news sources (especially disreputable ones) that show up on your timeline. Blocking a page is not bad, it’s not an act of aggression, the page that you blocked will never even know.

– Don’t read the comments.

– Follow accounts that make your day better.

– Engage with content you want to see more of.

– Follow pages focused on your hobbies or interests.

– Do a social media inventory each month. Ask yourself what areas of social media are draining you, annoying you, or making you unhappy and then do what you can do to fix that thing.