Using Social Media Without Compromising Your Mental Health

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It has been proven that social media does have an impact on mental health. However, how it affects your mental health depends on how you go about using it. The book "Light, Bright and Polite" by Josh Ochs offers advice on how to navigate social media in hopes of impressing colleges or future employers. In chapter three, Ochs talks about those strategies, however, I noticed these strategies are not limited to keeping your digital footprint clean. They can also help look after your mental health while you surf the web and scroll through apps. The book states to use social media in a positive manner. Complaining online puts negativity out onto the internet for others to see which may impact your followers (and it looks bad to future employers). Putting out positive thoughts will help motivate your followers and you can feel good knowing you are doing so. This also builds your personal brand as others will view you in a positive light. Moving on, do not permanentize things. Anything you put out on the internet stays there forever, taking a few minutes to calm down from a situation will help you reconsider what you are about to post or how your post might affect someone else. You may want to vent and unleash those emotions but don't do it at the expense of someone's feelings or your online image. Additionally, when you post pictures, think twice before uploading them. If you wouldn't want your grandma to see it, then you probably shouldn't post it. Not only can an inappropriate picture look bad to future employers, but it could potentially ruin your reputation or even turn you into a victim of cyberbullying/harassment. Nobody deserves to be cyberbullied or harassed but taking precautions will help you avoid putting yourself into a situation like that. Unfortunately, people on the internet are not the kindest. Some tips that I would like to personally add would be:

  • Never compare your life to internet posts. People post highlights of their lives, not their entire lives. Nobody is perfect no matter how their feed seems. 
  • Try not to Photoshop your "imperfections" or insecurities. I try to avoid filters that drastically change my face, or even avoid filters all together. This helps me embrace how I look rather than to try and "fix" myself (which can lead to body image issues).
  • Take breaks from social media. It is important to take breaks every now and then from the digital world. When taking these breaks, try practicing mindfulness or move around. Sitting down is said to be the new smoking.

All in all, have fun on social media, but take care of your mental health as well!

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