If you find that you’re excessively using social media and it’s impacting your mood, try modifying your habits. Doing so may help improve your mood.
The Role Social Media Plays in Mental Health
We are social creatures and need the companionship of others to thrive. The strength of our connections has a huge impact on our mental health and happiness. Being socially connected to others can ease stress, anxiety, and depression, boost self-worth, provide comfort and joy, prevent loneliness, and even add years to your life. Lacking strong social connections can pose a serious risk to your mental and emotional health.
Although social media platforms offer various benefits, they should not replace real-world human connection. In-person contact is necessary to trigger the hormones that alleviate stress and make you feel happier, healthier, and more positive. Spending too much time on social media can make you feel lonely and isolated, and exacerbate mental health problems.
If you’ve been feeling sad, frustrated, or lonely and you think it might be because you’re spending too much time on social media, it might be a good idea to cut back and find a better balance.
The Positive Aspects of Social Media
Interacting with people virtually on social media does not have the same psychological benefits as interacting with them face-to-face; however, virtual interaction can still be helpful in staying connected and supporting your well-being in other ways.
Social media enables you to:
- Communicate and stay up to date with family and friends around the world.
- Find new friends and communities; network with other people who share similar interests or ambitions.
- Join or promote worthwhile causes; raise awareness on important issues.
- Seek or offer emotional support during tough times.
- Find vital social connections if you live in a remote area, for example, or have limited independence, social anxiety, or are part of a marginalized group.
- Find an outlet for your creativity and self-expression.
- Discover (with care) sources of valuable information and learning.
The Negative Aspects of Social Media
Because it is new, there is not much research on the long term effects, positive or negative, of social media use. However, many studies have found a clear connection between using social media a lot and an increased chance of depression, anxiety, loneliness, self-harm, and even suicidal thoughts.
Social media may promote negative experiences such as:
Inadequacy About Your Life or Appearance
Even though we know that the images we see on social media are usually edited and not representative of reality, they can still make us feel bad about ourselves. It’s common knowledge that people only share the good parts of their lives on social media, but that doesn’t make it any easier to see when we’re scrolling through photos of our friends’ fabulous vacations or reading about their great new jobs.
Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)
The feeling that you are missing out on something, or FOMO, has been around for much longer than social media. However, social media sites like Facebook and Instagram might make people feel like others are having more fun or living better lives than them. This can impact someone’s self-esteem, cause anxiety, and make them use social media even more. FOMO can make people want to check their phone all the time for updates, or respond to every alert right away—even if it means being dangerous while driving, not getting enough sleep, or caring more about social media than real-world relationships.
Isolation
A study at the University of Pennsylvania found that Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram make people feel more lonely instead of less lonely. The study also found that reducing social media usage improves overall wellbeing by making people feel less lonely and isolated.
Depression and Anxiety
Monitoring your social media interactions is important for mental health. Having less face-to-face contact can lead to developing mood disorders such as anxiety and depression.
Cyberbullying
About 10 percent of teens report being bullied on social media. Social media platforms, such as Twitter, can be hotspots for spreading hurtful rumors, lies and abuse that can leave lasting emotional scars.
Self-Absorption
If you share too many selfies and personal thoughts on social media, it can make you seem self-centered and distance you from real-life connections.
What’s Driving Your Social Media Use?
Over the past few years, social media has become increasingly accessible due to the popularity of smartphones and tablets. While this convenience allows us to stay connected with others, it also means that we are constantly bombarded with notifications and alerts. This can lead to impulse control problems, sleep deprivation, and phone addiction.
The reason social media is addictive is because it is designed to be that way. Companies make money by keeping you online and checking your screen for updates. When you get a like, share, or favorable reaction to a post, it triggers the release of dopamine in the brain. This is the same chemical that is released when you win on a slot machine or take a bite of chocolate. The more you’re rewarded, the more time you want to spend on social media, even if it’s harmful to other parts of your life.
The ProblemÂ
Even without diving into the research, you probably know that mindlessly scrolling through social media is not the best habit for your mental health. Here’s why:
Social media fuels comparison: the thief of joy
You’re having a bad day and you go on social media for a distraction, but instead you see everyone else’s highlight reel and it makes you feel worse.
We too easily compare our lives, jobs, and relationships to others’ highlight reels, which can make us feel inadequate, insecure, and dissatisfied. And before you know it, your crappy day just got even crappier.
I’ve found that I often compare myself to others, especially when using social media. It seems like the only way to avoid this is to completely stay off social media, but that’s not really an option for me since my job requires me to use it. What can I do in this situation?
A study by Chicago University found that social media is more addictive than cigarettes and booze.
Design techniques that create a feedback loop, like push notifications and infinite scroll, keep us hooked.
You might think that there are worse things to be addicted to, but research shows that excessive social media use can cause unhappiness and dissatisfaction with life, as well as increasing the risk of developing anxiety and depression.
The research suggests that working in social media could lead to developing an addiction that could be damaging to your mental health.
But it isn’t all bad.
I much prefer social media for the community it provides. Facebook groups can be a big help in both finding events and connecting with other digital nomads.
In the last few years, social media has proved itself as a tool to help organize people for movements and campaigns fighting for social justice.
I have seen first-hand how social media can be used to create loyal followers, increase brand awareness, reach new customers, boost sales and more.
The Vicious Cycle of Unhealthy Social Media Use
Excessive social media use can create a negative, self-perpetuating cycle:
- When you feel lonely, depressed, anxious, or stressed, you use social media more often—as a way to relieve boredom or feel connected to others.
- Using social media more often, though, increases FOMO and feelings of inadequacy, dissatisfaction, and isolation.
- In turn, these feelings negatively affect your mood and worsen symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress.
- These worsening symptoms cause you to use social media even more, and so the downward spiral continues.
How to Manage Your Mental Health
It’s time to answer the million-dollar question…
I’m still trying to figure out how to manage my mental health while working in this field. But I do have some tried and tested tips for my fellow front-line social media workers:
Set Boundaries
And stick to them.
It is important to set boundaries in order to protect your mental health. This could involve logging off at a certain time, or blocking specific timeslots to reply to DMs and comments. Work out what works for you, and then tell your manager or client about your boundaries.
Curate Your Feed
There may be people in your feed that you often compare yourself to, or accounts that constantly show negative news. It’s time for you to take back your power and only follow accounts that inspire you and make you feel good.
If you don’t want to see someone’s posts but can’t unfollow them because of work or a friendship, you can use the mute button on Instagram or Twitter to hide them from your feed. On Facebook, you can ‘unfollow’ someone while remaining friends with them.
Stop Checking In on the Competition
It can be tempting to keep checking what your competitors are doing, but it can also be bad for your self-esteem. If you find yourself doing this too often, try unfollowing or muting them.
Try a Digital Detox
Only use your phone when you need to, and try to be present in the moment when you are using it. Take some time every day to disconnect from your phone and connect with the world around you.
I work in social media, so I have to be active on these channels during the week. To help myself relax and recharge, I do weekend detoxes where I take a break from social media.
Practice Mindful Scrolling
Try to be more mindful when you are scrolling through your phone. Notice your thoughts or how your body feels. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Remember that what you see is not reality.
Final ThoughtsÂ
Social media platforms can be used by businesses to connect with customers and promote social causes.
But it also has a dark side.
We are aware as a society that spending too much time online has negative effects. Countless studies have shown that there is a direct correlation between high social media use and anxiety, loneliness, and depression.
What does this mean for social media workers in terms of their mental health? How can they work in the exciting online world while also protecting themselves?
This blog ended up being a little longer than I planned. It actually started as a vent with a friend, but then I thought maybe I should share it.
I hope that this blog will inspire you to have a conversation with someone about the impact of social media on mental health. The more people who are aware of this issue, the better we can protect mental health. And help people who work in the social media industry to set boundaries.