Why You Need to Ignore Social Media

Open up Instagram and you will find people who look incredibly good all the time and their lives are so happy. Open Facebook and you will find people that are apparently perfect parents, and the moment their new baby arrives home, life is wonderful. Open up Tik-Tok and you will find people doing some very weird things for some very unknown reasons. Your life simply doesn’t compare to the alternate realities - that’s because they’re not real.

Social media has completely changed how the world works, and generally not for the better when it comes to our own mental health. It’s far too easy to think that we’re not living up to some unknown standard when viewing social media. In order to use social media effectively, you need to use critical thinking skills. Just because someone types that they’re the “happiest in the world” doesn’t actually mean they are - it is simply what they want the world to see.

Does that mean that your friend’s aren’t happy? No. However, social media tends to encourage people to exaggerate their feelings and happiness. It encourages people to show the best or the worst of themselves. It’s literally a platform where you’re trying to show off to other people. Of course you’re going to put your best foot forward, or the foot that gets sympathy out there. Real life is happening around you, not on social media.

Put your phone down and call your real friends, not the ones that you simply see on social media all the time. Get together with your friends and talk about what’s actually going on in their life. Are they going to tell you they’re happy? Possibly. But they’ll likely also tell you about the things that aren’t going as well - the baby isn’t sleeping through the night or isn’t eating very well, or whatever other issues may be happening. Are those bad things? No - they’re part of parenting, but they rarely make it to social media because they aren’t the happy parts of life.

Celebrities are some of the hardest people to follow on social media. Whether it’s fitness models, or a movie/TV star, all you’re going to get is a stream of perfect photos and a person with lots of money showing off. These people are making a lot of money, often making money off of social media, and they show off only the best of their lives. You need to realize that the pictures and stories they post are often an ad to you for something.

Fitness models on these platforms have perfect photos and bodies. In many cases, this is their job. They simply workout all day long, take hundreds of photos, and then post the very best of the best. They get perfect lighting to make their photos look even better. They’ll then include some type of product or something else that they ultimately want you to buy - trying to look like them when you’re a busy parent is often unrealistic.

Turn off social media if you’re struggling with following these people - if your own mental health is struggling because you want your life to be like their life, then turn it off. You don’t know what’s really going on behind the scenes with them, and it’s very possible (and likely) that they are struggling with something mentally as well.

Social media is warping how we see the world. Turn off your phone, get outside and enjoy the fresh air. Meet up with your friends, and spend time with your family. That’s real life, and having actual friends and support is what makes life meaningful.