Mental Health and Social Media: Understand Your Results

It’s common for people of all ages to compare themselves and their lives with what they see on social media and then feel bad because they assume everyone else’s lives are perfect but theirs are not. We often forget that people tend to post only their best moments on social media and leave out the boring, difficult, or sad parts. Use these tips to avoid letting social comparison affect your self-esteem. 

Keep reminding yourself of all the positive things about yourself and your life! 

• Life is not a contest. Remember to focus on your own strengths and accomplishments and avoid comparing yourself to others.   

Pay attention to what triggers social comparisons.  

• Have you noticed that viewing a certain celebrity’s or influencer’s posts makes you feel bad about yourself? Identify what kind of content triggers these negative feelings and shift your attention away from these accounts. When you see something that triggers a comparison, remember, what you see online is often not an accurate or complete picture of other people’s lives.  

Follow accounts that uplift and inspire you.  

• There are lots of positive and uplifting accounts on social media. Choose to follow those that benefit your mental health and don’t encourage you to compare yourself with others.  

During the pandemic, isolation from friends caused many teens to feel depressed and anxious.  Although social media can be a great way to stay in touch when other options are not available, it may also contribute to feelings of loneliness if social media takes the place of one-on-one conversations. Having one-on-one conversations and seeing people in person, when possible, may really strengthen your relationships.  Here are some tips to keep from letting social media isolate you from friends and family.  

Think of one person you’d like to spend more time with and reach out to them. 

• Creating and maintaining relationships takes effort, and sometimes it’s hard to do when we’re feeling sad. Try to think of someone who won’t judge you and who is easy to talk to. Reach out and let them know you want to catch up! 

Get together with friends outdoors. 

• If the weather cooperates, organizing a picnic, hike or other outdoor activity is a great way to safely get together with friends in person. 

Have a phone conversation.  

• Sometimes just hearing someone’s voice can brighten our day and impact us in a way that a message, “like,” or comment can’t. Chatting on the phone may seem “old school,” but it’s one way you can keep in touch with friends when you can’t see them in person! 

Use social media to reach out to friends and family you don’t get to see in day-to-day life. 

• When you do use social media, try to use it to check in on those you don’t often get to see in person, like cousins who don’t live near you or friends who have moved away. 

When we share things on social media that we wouldn’t dare share in person, we risk jeopardizing our privacy and safety. Sometimes we do it to get the approval or attention of others. However, it is wise to avoid sharing your personal information on the internet. This includes any information that would help someone you don’t know locate you, sexually explicit photos, or things like family or relationship drama. Instead, invest your time and energy in relationships, hobbies, and self-care — things that naturally give you a sense of self-worth! If you need someone to talk with about something you’re struggling with, you can talk with a parent or other trusted adult in your life. If you need a therapist, they can also help you find one. Here are some tips to help you think before you post!  

Learn how to protect your safety online. 

• Use this checklist, these tips, or this tip card  to be sure you know how to protect your privacy online.

• Be familiar with the consequences of sharing sexually explicit photos. 

Instead of sharing highly personal information, use social media to share information about issues that are important to you. 

• Social media is a great platform to have conversations about issues that matter to you or to get involved in activities that will make a difference in your community. It can also be a great way to forward news and current events from trusted sources and spread positive messages. 

Avoid following accounts that pull you into angry and unproductive debates. 

• Social media can be a source of stress and conflict if a debate gets out of control. If specific accounts often make you angry, it might be best to unfollow them. 

Think ahead. Anything you post can spread quickly and stay on the internet forever. Imagine who might see it in the future (employers, teachers, family members). Will you feel good about it later? 

• If you are upset about something you see online, give yourself a chance to cool off before you decide how to respond.  

• Ask a trusted friend or family member for advice before posting something sensitive. People who love you and know you best are most likely to tell you the truth if they think you’ll regret your post later. 

“Effortless perfection” is the idea that someone should appear to be good at everything while looking like they’re hardly trying. The problem with effortless perfection is that it can put impossible expectations on all of us, which may increase depression and anxiety and discourage us from admitting when we are overwhelmed. We all need help sometimes, we all fail at times, and no one’s life is perfect! Check out these tips on how to use social media to show your most authentic self. 

Post without filters. 

• Filters can be fun to use, but they can create unrealistic expectations and might be messing with your self-esteem and body image. Try setting an example for your friends and promote self-acceptance by posting unfiltered photos. Maybe others will join you. You can start by doing this with smaller groups of close friends you trust. 

Think Twice about why you are posting. 

• Before you post something online, think about why you want to post it. If the reason is to impress your followers or to portray a certain image, you might want to reconsider. Ask yourself if you really want to create more pressure for others to be perfect. 

• Consider turning off your ability to see the number of “likes,” views, etc. that others get, and turning off others’ ability to see yours. You protect your mental health by focusing more on the quality of interaction you are having online and less on these numbers. 

Be kind to yourself.   

• Reaching goals takes work, and there are always ups and downs. Choose the goals that are most important to you, and don’t expect to be good at everything.  

Despite all the benefits of social media, many teens become overly absorbed in it. Almost half of teens say they are online most of the time. A group of researchers found that people who used the most social media platforms had more than three times the risk of depression and anxiety than people who used the fewest platforms. More time online is also linked to lower self-esteem. It is important to keep a healthy balance when using social media so it doesn’t take over your life and make you forget about important commitments like school, family and friends, or work. Use these tips to keep your online time in check, use social media in a way that benefits you most, and be sure you have the time and energy to achieve your goals! 

Set limits on your social media use.  

• Spend just a small amount of time on social media each day. There are ways to manage your screen time on iPhone and Android that help you become more aware of your social media use, and you can find many other apps that let you set a time limit for social media.  

Make screen-free zones.  

• One idea is to only allow yourself to use your phone in the living room and not in your bedroom.  

Turn off notifications or delete apps.  

• Turning off notifications can reduce the pressure you feel to look at your social media app every time you receive an alert on your phone or computer. To take it even further, you can completely delete the app from your phone or tablet.  

Take a break.  

• Step away from social media and do something else you enjoy, like reading a good book, going outside, or spending time with friends.