For many of us, social media is an essential part of our daily lives. Not only is checking Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and the like a part of our routines, it can also be our main way of communicating and keeping up with the people around us.
I know that for me, going on Instagram tends to be the first thing I do in the morning and the last thing I do at night. While I am able to recognize the many pros and cons of social media and the necessity it has become for our generation, I recently realized that being so active on these apps may be creating more harm than I was even aware of.
For over 10 years selfies have become part of the social media culture. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. I don’t necessarily see the harm in uploading a picture of yourself to Instagram or Twitter. But recently, I found myself constantly scrolling through photos of people showing off their newest dieting fad, their workouts, or their bodies. And when it came down to it, I felt as though all I was doing was consuming content based around those topics, especially celebrities. While I’d like to point out that I don’t think there’s anything wrong with posting about your favorite diet or how you’re getting in shape for “swimsuit season,” it’s a very different culture than body positivity.
For someone that is constantly striving to feel and be as confident as possible, I find it really important for me to be surrounded by positive content in an effort to embrace everything about my body. And while the Kardashians are my guilty pleasure and the Victoria’s Secret Angels are, and always will be, beyond gorgeous, I had to ask myself a question — is following all these celebrities causing me to subconsciously compare myself to them? More specifically, is this negatively impacting my self-esteem?
So for a week I decided to unfollow any famous people that I thought may have an impact on me. This included many of the Kardashians and Jenners, entertainment accounts like People and E!, and even a few YouTubers. For the duration of the week, I also made an effort to lessen my social media use — that meant ignoring my notifications and apps immediately after waking up and trying not to be as active on them. And no, I can’t tell you that it automatically made me a more confident and mentally stable person, but I do think it helped. It could be a placebo effect, but I really do think that surrounding yourself with body positive content and not being so encompassed by a skinny-obsessed culture is beneficial.
Am I saying you have to go unfollow all your favorite celebrities to feel good about yourself? Absolutely not. But am I saying that it pays to be more aware of the social media content you’re consuming on a daily basis? Definitely.