Social Media Is The Best Tool For Self Improvement

I know, I know.

I love to complain about social media here (and everywhere) but lately, I’ve been thinking about how I somehow created a very healthy space in my social media.

I started to realize that although I wished I spent less time on social media every time I'm on it I learn something new and I get many helpful reminders.

I deactivated my personal IG account in late December 2023 and it’s been amazing so far. Doing that has helped me to shape my algorithm in my other account and now it’s all about mental health, motivational quotes and speeches, and lots of self-improvement tips and reminders.

Without even realizing it, I’ve noticed that I go back to a lot of the content or content creators who genuinely help and give great reminders.

I always think that if it wasn't for the internet I would be nowhere near where I am in terms of healing and growth. It was through the internet that I was able to understand terms such as limerence, narcissism, sociopathy cluster b family system, and common personality disorders. As well as other terms such as triangulation and self-soothing techniques such as EFT (tapping) for anxiety which is something I want to try.

Learning all of these things has helped me cope and if it weren't for the internet I wouldn’t have learned any of them.

We are always complaining but the amount of access we have to this kind of information is giving us higher chances of improving and healing than past generations because they just didn’t have the opportunity to learn so easily like us.

The concept of mental health is fairly new and we are just now understanding the impact of mental illness, trauma, and family dynamics in all aspects of life.

Unfortunately, at least where I live, this isn't common knowledge. People are just now getting familiarized with how omnipresent narcissism and narcissistic characteristics are in the people around us. But most people don’t dig into their issues and lack the nuance and perspective to understand them — at a personal and general level.

Learning about all of these things helps me stay calm because I understand that these human behaviors are being studied and analyzed so although there is still a lot to understand and investigate it’s comforting to know that what you have experienced has a name and it’s real.

How can you make your social media more positive and encouraging?

Unfollow the accounts that aren’t helping you and follow those that do (is the principle)

You’ve probably heard this one before, but it’s super important.

I don’t understand where this notion that social media is just beautiful women you compare yourself to comes from. If looking at beautiful women is something that bothers you so much why are you following 20 of them? I won’t get into it today but, why is it so normalized to feel insecure like this on the internet?

Algorithms will keep showing you what you give attention to and what you engage with.

Instagram doesn’t care if you stay 2 hours watching models or 2 hours watching male podcast clips, it just wants you to stay there for as long as possible.

You can choose what you prefer and if you are going to be addicted to it, you might as well consume content that’s going to help you in some way.

Do some form of a social media detox

I think this one is very important too. If you want to use social media as something that could even be healthy it’s best to take a hiatus from it to break the pattern of the habit you have developed of consuming certain kinds of content, the kinds that aren't helping you.

If you stop consuming social media in general for some time (I recommend 1 to 4 months) when you come back, you’ll be able to start fresh in a way. You’ll naturally spend less time on it because you are getting used to it again, so before you become addicted again take advantage of that and try to be more mindful of the kind of content that makes it worth it for you to be on it. Don’t waste the detox.

Set strict boundaries with social media

Nothing new either.

I learned with time that spending a lot of time on social media is only a lot if you personally think it is. If social media benefits your life during 2hrs then why is it a lot?

Whenever I saw videos about how bad social media is for you I felt like I had to adopt the same boundaries they have around social media. But then I realized it didn’t work and despite having a “high” screen time I’m getting everything I want to done and I’m more productive. Now I only set boundaries with social media based on my own routine and what I need to do.

Social media is complicated and we are all navigating it. I hope that you figure out a healthy relationship with social media and its different platforms. It's scary to think about the future repercussions of growing up so connected and the overload of media intake that especially generation z has grown up with. We’ll see how it all goes soon.

Thank you for reading till here,

Love.