Toxic Social Media?

So, I would say we’re a month and a bit into lockdown as I am writing this. It’s not been as bad as I thought it would be but, in all honesty, I have struggled a lot. One of the main things I’ve found myself struggling with is social media. It’s something I have a very love/hate relationship with and as I’ve gotten older I’ve realised that it’s not about how many likes you get on post and all that type of rubbish but I was very uptight about it when I was younger and if I didn’t get said amount of likes, I would delete the post and then wait until it was the “best time to post” to get maximum likes.

Although some people say that they’re not influenced by what they see online, I think it always plays a small factor is the things you do even if you don’t necessarily think that.

Since being in lockdown I’ve seen so many people talk about how they are really worried about gaining weight during this pandemic and my social media has been riddled with loads of at home workouts and ways to make sure that you’re keeping healthy. Now I know that some of these posts can be really helpful for others so that they can maintain healthy lifestyles, but for others it can be a triggering aspect considering they’re on quite prominent on every platform.

I found myself slipping into old habits of constantly comparing myself to those I see online and was starting to feel incredibly guilty that I wasn’t using this time to maybe loose an extra couple of pounds. I felt more and more disappointed with myself the more I saw these home workout videos and influencers promoting skinny teas.

I’ve always been quite a confident person but during this time I felt as if my insecurities were taking over my body and I found myself lacking in that confidence I once had. I started to wonder if it was just me who was feeling like this, but after talking to friends, I found that I wasn’t the only one.

Although I praise social media for the opportunities and access it gives us, I think we have to be very careful with how we use and consume it, as it can become a very prominent factor in your life, this doesn’t mean it’s going go effect everyone badly but I think it’s good to learn that taking a break from it is okay and good for your mentality surrounding it.