Life According to Instagram

We know that social media has effects on our mental health so what are we doing about it?

If you’ve ever taken a digital detox, whether it was a week or a day, you immediately notice some changes relatively quickly. I’ve noticed personally that I become so much more productive and actually take not of how many hours in a day I do have! And I don’t know exactly how many hours I spend a day on social media as I turned that feature off on my phone- it was another extra notification I didn’t want to see along with information that would make me feel like crap when I saw the number of how many hours I did spend, I will say that it’s definitely less that most would assume, I know that much!

Asides from the productivity, I was getting the proper me time I needed. When I went offline erm, off of social media, I consider being offline to not having a smart phone in general,  I truly felt I was much more mentally restored. Whether I choose to take a bath or watch tv or read.

The pressures of instagram are a completely different beast as it takes on the facade of “reality”

Sometimes when I’m listing things I am grateful for, not having social media in high school is one of them. Growing up I wasn’t so susceptible to the pressures of pictures of super models in magazines or the women I saw on tv- we were watching laguna beach and the hills, I was more envious of where they lived if anything! I tuned into the art of it and that dreams do come true in some form or another. And although that was my experience I’m very aware that it wasn’t for most. My own battles with my relationship with food and my body had absolutely nothing to do with mirroring the highly stylized and edited photos I would see in the media.

The pressures of instagram are a completely different beast as it takes on the facade of “reality”. Because there is an element of spontaneity, candidness and “live” posting- which we are all very well aware that that’s not how it is for most of the instagram stars and influencers, trickling down to really anyone! Instagram has seamlessly in one fell swoop made us so insecure about the hang outs we are having to even our day-to-day lives when we’re just living.

Somehow living your best life was directly correlated with the amount of likes you received on instagram. Digging a little deeper into that, when we’re getting coffee, or meeting up with girlfriends there’s a certain bar set to match what we’ve seen online. Why? I’m partially guilty of this too but, as with anything in life, guarding my energy is very important. When I do things for the ‘gram, I don’t feel present- it feels like work and that’s what it is for me, so by definition that’s alright. I have to be in charge of those setting boundaries however. Because of the career path I choose, I’m not punching the clock each time I come to work, I’m more or less clocking in an out through out the day.

I’m sure when the creators of instagram developed the app, they never imagined the psychological effects the app would have on its users. It seems it took a life of its own and it’s by no one else’s doing than the users ( and of course when the costumer or the climate is asking for certain criteria, it will often be delivered. Supply and demand.)

Just so we’re clear, I am not hating on instagram at all. I think peoples creativity shines through and its inspiring. We’ve been able to connect with our niche groups from all over the World and ultimately, the way I view instagram is like a new version of what the magazine racks were for me when I was younger except now, you have the full control to curate (with the help of instagrams algorithm) what you wish to see. Your tastes are truly magnified! So when you open your app, not only do you see your friends and fam and distant long time ago friends, you also see topics of interest- cars, food, restaurants, athletes, design, photography, memes, politics and there are definitely a bunch I’m leaving out but you catch my drift.

Understand: It’s a moment of self reflection and turning inwards and understanding the relationship we have with social media and being honest with ourselves- what is the goal of it? Does it truly make us happier or does it feed into a lack mentality. If words like pressure, or insecurity or even competitiveness, anxiety, judgment, sadness are coming up I would reevaluate, and highly recommend a digital detox. Whether or not social media is here to stay or if it will fizzle out, we spend enough time on it, so having a good relationship and understanding of all things online is imperative. Nothing in life is either inherently bad or good (that’s a deeper conversation, possibly to be covered on a later day or Prism Podcast..) it’s the perception we have of it, that’s why the combination of understanding of self and what the goal or purpose or motivation behind your actions…honestly. It all begins with you!

Set boundaries: I’ve turned it off not because I don’t want to face the truth, I just don’t like the analytics of it all BUT apple now has the meter/notification of how much time you spend on social media. It’s useful to know but again if your work requires social media than that number will naturally be higher so it becomes relative. Yes allotting an amount of time you spend on social media can be useful for example, one hour before bed no screens! Or consciously picking people and brands to follow that will lift your spirits or enlighten you instead of bringing you down. If you’re meeting your friends at a cute lunch spot and you’re wearing an epic outfit, sure snap some selfies of you and your friends but once the pictures are taken, they’re there edit and look at them after lunch! Don’t you want to be present anyways?

Be mindful: Users have become more transparent when it comes to editing they’ve done on photos or bts which is paramount! Vloggers and influencers have been very candid with mental health and they’re relationship with social media- for people who share a big chunk of their lives online it’s refreshing (and real) to hear that they too struggle with the same things. Best saying I’ve heard and I’m so glad its picked up is “instagram is a highlight reel” and if you think about it why would we want to share the sad, boring, parts of our lives. Once you’re aware of that you almost are happy for the post-er because they’re feeling good in that moment of sharing and so YES that should be liked! Right?

Bottom line take all that you know about self care and apply it to your social media self. Social media is not the villain if you’re aware of its working and what the use of it is. And know yourself well enough to know when it’s time to take a break from it, you won’t miss anything, only gain better perspective when you come back. The irony is, every time I’ve done a digital detox, I’ve been hesitant to come back to the social online World. Isn’t that food for thought?

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