Social Media Effects and Uncluttering Them
Social Media is all the rage, right? You have all the accounts – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat (is that still a thing?), etc. etc. etc. Too many to keep track of and pay attention to. The only ones that I even pay attention to are Facebook and Instagram.
In the past, I felt it necessary to follow all the people and all the things on social media. I thought it was the “cool” thing to do. I followed all the groups that had anything to do with being a mom, all the cooking groups, all the various quirky accounts that would give me random information that I found useful, all the celebrities I liked, all the people I knew – even if I haven’t talked to them in years. I felt like I needed to know EVERYTHING. I realized that there was so much . . . clutter on my social media. That there was way too much that was sucking my time away.
Since the pandemic, I have realized a lot about myself in regards to social media and the effects that it has on me. I let all, and I mean all, the things get to me. Even the smallest things. Everything that I felt like related to me, I took to heart. If someone posted something about working out and the way they looked, I thought poorly of myself. If I saw something related to parenting I would compare that with myself. If I saw a mom and how they were doing things, I would compare. Comparison is what I noticed with everything. And it was horrible for my mental health. I drove myself nuts. I didn’t like what was becoming of my mentality when I was looking at it. I read all the posts from all the groups and got sucked into hours of looking at things on social media, particularly Facebook. I found anything that seemed like it would be interesting and thought, oh I can do that, or I should try that or oh man look at what that person is doing – I wish I could do that. I was putting myself down. It was hurting my self esteem and the way I looked at certain things. Does anyone else do this? I’m sure I can’t be the only one.
I thought, why am I doing this to myself? Why am I scrolling and following so many accounts that just suck the life out of me. So I then thought, how can I fix this? I don’t want to live my life comparing myself to everything and everyone out there on social media. I decided that it was time to make a commitment to making myself feel better, but still be able to use social media in a better way for me. The first thing I did was tell myself to stop looking at my social media accounts so much. To stop going onto Facebook and Instagram so often. In the midst of starting this, I had watched the documentary The Social Dilemma on Netflix, which I recommend for anyone to watch. It was very interesting. After watching that documentary, I took a break from Facebook and Instagram. More so for Facebook as I knew that was sucking more of my time and energy. I ended up unfollowing a ton of people, pages, and groups. I deleted people that somehow, I realized, weren’t even people/accounts I knew. How the heck did people end up my friend on Facebook that I don’t really know?! I did a lot of weeding out of things on the accounts. And I allotted myself certain times to check and be on Facebook. And I did the same for Instagram – I unfollowed accounts that weren’t bringing me joy. I cleaned up both social media accounts so that I wouldn’t get sucked into looking at information that just didn’t make me feel well about things.
I now follow only people/accounts that I enjoy hearing about, groups that I enjoy getting information from and things that make me feel good. I don’t get lost in a time warp. I look with intention and not for distraction. I found certain accounts that I tend to look at because it helps keep me feeling grounded and more like the person I want to be. And they teach me little things about life or about myself to be better. I look for the relatable but uplifting things.
This all helps me to focus on what I really need and want in my life – social life and present life in front of me. Especially during this time of such uncertainty. As mentioned in a previous post, there has been a lot that I’ve learned about myself during this crazy time. So I’m doing everything I can, and wish to, that will guide me into being a better person.
Has anyone else cleared out their social media accounts to help them better themselves? Is there another way you did so, other than the ways mentioned above? Let me know if there’s other ways to clear up social media accounts for the better, or if there are certain accounts that you think would be beneficial to follow.