Mental Health, though I don’t consider myself an avid advocate on this issue, I do deal with my own mental health issues, and I am truly pleased about the recent progress made to raise awareness of mental health.
With an ever-growing array of Social Media platforms, it may feel hard to even keep up with the next best thing sometimes. Yet, in today’s digital age, it’s where a lot of us spend our time online and has undeniably made a significant impact on how we think and feel.
One of the great benefits of Social Media is the immediate availability of information. It allows us to keep in touch with friends and family, look into areas of interest, and a place to share thoughts and ideas.
However, several studies suggest that spending too much time scrolling through social media might actually result in loneliness and depression.
Why?
One possible reason is people who post on Social Media, are usually just sharing their positives, and with no direct intention to cause an effect but receive praise and gratitude in return. The problem then arises when the person who views these images might feel that they, in comparison, live an inferior and boring life.
On top of that, we have to deal with fake news, bullying, and trolls. We’re in a current world of ‘cancel’ culture, where everyone’s reaching for likes and to be liked. Because of the global reach of information now, you can bet that your message will never be received well by everyone.
So now what?
We’ve come from a history of gunning for numbers, now we’ve forgotten that we have a choice in who we follow. Everyone’s more readily labelled a ‘friend’. Everyone feels disheartened if they don’t get likes, and so we are stuck in this cycle.
I recently went through my accounts and unfollowed anyone I hadn’t actually spoken to (not likes) in ages. Already I see far less comparing myself, I see far more of my interests. I get a sense I’ve been using social media incorrectly all this time?
