Social Media is something that most people use in abundance in their day to day lives. I do. It has been proven that social media can affect the way you think and the way you perceive people and situations. A good practice is to keep your social media feeds positive and helpful, so instead of harming your mental health, social media can be a place where you thrive with like-minded individuals.
Certain mediums are breeding grounds for trolls, and it would be best to avoid mediums like YouTube and Reddit, unless you are positive the things you view will not upset you or cause you trauma. Social Media gives people anonymity, and this brings out the worst in people. While we have all been taught that words don’t hurt, they still affect you and can negatively impact your day. How I ensure that my mental health is guarded while using social media is not to follow any pages or people who do not align with my ideals. I don’t follow theshaderoom, the Kardashians, many other celebrities that do offensive things. Steering clear of these pages help declutter your feed and keep you from seeing things that may trigger you. Follow whatever influencers you please, but if they do problematic things like promoting fit-tea, waist cinchers, or useless vitamins, you probably should unfollow them.
I follow lots of natural hair pages, pet pages (because who doesn’t love baby animals) sex-positive and mental health pages. These pages are great for throwing color, a new perspective, and some love into your feed. However, with unpopular opinions also come trolls, so don’t engage with people who search for posts to be mean on. This happens often on feminist pages, and if you believe that you can’t stop yourself from engaging in these arguments, then I don’t recommend following certain feminist pages.
Twitter can be better for your mental health, depending on what you follow. Social media is really what you make of it, so choose who you follow carefully because you will see every piece of content they post to that page whether it’s what you expect from them or not. Twitter has more news forums and drama pages, so I’d steer clear of the drama and only focus on news, positivity, and whatever you believe in.
I don’t endorse dating apps, only because there is a lot of hate and inappropriateness that lives on there, but it is the 21st century and this is the way people choose to meet now; so if you are going to be on dating apps, be careful with what information you share and before going on a date with a stranger, make sure your friends know their name and where you’re going.
I only have Snapchat, Instagram, and YouTube because I do not feel like it is necessary to be on every social media platform that exists; some things are just for fun, but they still have an underlying culture and narrative. Tumblr and tik-tok can be very damaging to younger people, and I would advise either not having these platforms or having a heavily monitored timeline with lots of self-reflection. At the end of the day remember to take a break from social media, the endless connection to everyone’s opinions can be overwhelming at times, and while it’s important to listen to different points of view, that only one that really matters to you is yours.
Take care of yourself!