Social media can be fun. It’s fun to interact with others. It’s great to be able to freely express ourselves. And it’s nice to be able to upload a new photo to our Instagram feeds, to show the rest of the world what we’re up to.
But social media can also be toxic to our mental health.
In fact, back in 2017, Instagram was rated as the worst social media platform when it comes to the impact on young people’s mental health.
This comes after a UK survey asked 1,479 young people aged between 14-24 to scot popular social media apps on issues such as anxiety, depression, loneliness, bullying, body image and FOMO (fear of missing out).
Of course, Instagram isn’t the only social media platform that can be detrimental to a person’s mental health – but it is the most obvious.
Seeing physical photos of people enjoying their lives and looking as though they are having the most amazing time 24/7 can make those of us who are sitting at home in our pyjamas feel rubbish.
Scrolling through your feed when you’ve taken the day off of work because you don’t feel well, to see others drinking champagne at fancy events, sunbathing in Bali or rocking a chic outfit in a coffee shop can make you wonder why your life isn’t going that way.
Which is why it’s important to remember that actually, Instagram is a pretty false platform.
I’m not saying these things don’t happen – it’d be a stretch to say someone has faked going to Bali – but what I am saying is that it’s not the whole picture.
It’s important to remember that we probably don’t even see 50% of a person’s actual life on Instagram. We see the good bits. The bits they want us to see. The bits that make them look like they have the most amazing lives. But we don’t see the bad bits. Because the bad bits aren’t as attractive.
We see the fun nights out, the champagne, the dancing – but we don’t see the horrible hangovers the next morning, the gulping litres of water because of dehydration and the cheeky trip to McDonald’s for a burger.
We see the trips abroad, but we don’t see the jet lag, the travel sickness, the messy hair and tired eyes after a long flight, the sweating and fatigue from walking around in the heat.
We see the pretty girls in pretty dresses drinking a fancy latte in a coffee shop – but we don’t see the numerous outfit changes beforehand, the ‘not Instagrammable’ photos taken before they got ‘the one’ and the fact the latte is probably now lukewarm because of all the camera snapping.
And not only this, but we don’t see what the people behind these photos are actually going through.
With 1 in 4 people suffering with a mental illness, it’s unlikely that these people look insanely happy all the time. That they don’t have days where they want to curl up in their bed and cry. That social events they’ve been invited to don’t make them anxious.
Instagram is a false reality – and not the real world.
And when you sit there and compare yourself to something that’s not totally legitimate, it makes no sense.
How can you compare 100% of your life to not even 50% of someone else’s?
And not only this – but how can you compare if you are at totally different stages?
I’ve been there, looking at other people’s lives and wondering why I’m not in the same boat. I look at people travelling the world and think, why aren’t I doing that?
People having kids and getting married, people buying new cars or opening businesses.
But then I remember, we are completely different people at completely different stages of our lives. And when I actually think about it – I wonder, do I really want to do these things or do I just think I should be doing them because other people are?
And it’s usually the latter that is true.
It’s important to remember that life is not a competition. We can’t all do the same things at the same time, because life would be boring.
It’s important to remember that what you do with your life is up to you – and you shouldn’t measure your life against someone else’s.
Stop putting pressure on yourself to compete with everyone else. Stop thinking you *should* be doing things just because other people are, and do what you want to do.
And if this takes time, then so be it. You can’t master everything you want to do in a day – do things at your own pace. Stop feeling as though you’re in a race with people you barely even know, just because of what they’re posting online.
Do what makes you happy.
Because honestly, in the end, all that matters is your happiness – you’re never going to grow old and think ‘I should have been doing what everyone else on Instagram was doing’.