The Social Media Blues

Let’s talk about social media.

We’ve all gotten what I call “the social media blues.” It’s that thing where you start feeling down or upset about your life, simply from looking at a news feed too long. Platforms like Instagram and Facebook are great for marketing yourself or your brand – and maybe spreading some good will with some “likes” on a post or two. But outside of that, I believe these platforms are utterly toxic. We argue with strangers about politics like they are an enemy, we pass around negative news stories that may or may not be true, we look at everyone else’s curated lives and compare ourselves to these tiny snapshots in time. We’ve got to stop. Our happiness depends on it.

With that, here are some things to keep in mind, next time you’re perusing social media with reckless abandon…

– No One’s Life is THAT Perfect.

The fact is that we are all just working on ourselves, trying to be happy and dealing with crap that no one actually wants to deal with. Every single person that I was close to last year was struggling – with illness, with their relationships and families, with debt, or self-loathing, or just figuring out their lives. Social allows us to see a very limited aspect of others’ lives. Just because someone is smiling in a picture does not mean they aren’t struggling.

– Life’s not a contest. Stop comparing yourself to others!!

Condition yourself to always see the good, instead of feeling the negative emotions, like jealousy, or sizing someone up. (Remember you can’t ever be happy if you allow yourself to constantly feel these emotions.) It helps me to remember that we are all working toward the same ultimate goal of joy in our lives. We’re all in it together, so don’t put yourself at odds with other people.

– Stop focusing on the negative news!

I actually deleted my Facebook for some time this year in an attempt to remove the negative headlines and news stories from my constant vision. We repost the worst news stories of the day every day, and then we wonder why we are miserable. It skews our view of the world. It makes us think that people are bad – it makes us angry. If we want to be happy, we have to start the day with positivity, not with negative garbage news. The world is not as the news portrays it. It’s actually WAY better. Ignore the news for about a month, and you’ll start to notice it yourself.

– If you are hating on someone, you’re missing something in your OWN LIFE.

Stop and evaluate the emotions you feel toward others. Are you annoyed with their joy? If so, maybe it’s time to evaluate why you’re so upset. Everything, from our moods to our opportunities, stems from within us. Hating on others means we need to assess what we aren’t liking in our own lives, so we can correct it!

Remember that social media is not the real world. And if it makes you feel bad, limit its influence in your life. Your joy should be your number one priority. Happy scrolling, you guys!! ❤