Developing healthier social media habits
Being socially connected to others can help to ease feelings of stress, anxiety and depression, lead to higher self-esteem, and prevent loneliness. Many of us rely on social media platforms to find and connect with each other. However, it is important to remember that social media can never be a replacement for real-world human connection.
A healthy relationship with social media doesn’t necessarily relate to the amount of time spent online; rather, it concerns the impact that this time has on your mood. If spending time online is making you feel more stressed, anxious, or depressed, it may be time to reassess your relationship with social media.
Positive motivations
Your motivation for using social media is likely to have an impact on how it makes you feel. For example, a fear of missing out (FOMO) can keep you endlessly returning to social media. You may worry that you will be left out of a conversation if you are not constantly checking your phone for notifications.
Next time you go to access social media, pause for a moment, and clarify your motivation for doing so. Remind yourself that there are very few things that can’t wait and try to reduce the number of times that you check your feed.
Clean your feed
It is important to reflect on how your time online makes you feel, to work out what is making you feel good, and what is not. Being part of a positive online community can give a boost to your mental health. Here are some tips to help you find yours:
Focus on following accounts that make you feel good and share positive content (e.g. @sece_mind on Instagram).
Try unfollowing accounts that annoy you, upset you, or take up too much of your time. Limiting your feed to content that you want to engage with can help to make a positive difference in how your time online makes you feel. If you don’t feel able to unfollow an account, try muting them – they won’t know they have been muted and you won’t have to see their posts or messages.
As well as being mindful of which accounts you follow, you can also build your own positive following. Selecting who follows you and what they see may make you feel more comfortable about your own online presence.
Filter the content that you see, such as by muting specific words or phrases on Twitter or enabling comment filters on Instagram. A shorter, more positive feed can also help to reduce the time that you spend scrolling, which will further help you to improve your online experience.
Try to avoid over-sharing
Different people will have different preferences about how much they share online. However, be mindful about who can see what you’re posting. Most social media platforms offer privacy functions to share your content with a select group of people, or to make your entire account private. This can make it easier to ensure that updates you post are shared only with people that you trust.
Before you post or comment ask yourself: am I doing something positive for myself and the people who will see this?
Further information and resources:
Mind – ‘About online mental health’ explains the link between mental health and internet usage, and the benefits and challenges that result.
YoungMinds – ‘Social media and mental health’ provides more advice on how to enjoy a more positive time online.