Social media- helpful or harmful?

Social media is a very popular subject with the media. Headlines are constantly saying how detrimental social media is to our health and well being and how our generation is ruining the platforms (as we are meant to be ruining everything). But is social media really as bad as everyone makes out? In this blog I hope to explain my thoughts about social media, talking about both my opinions and the opinions I have heard from other people.

I personally am very grateful for social media. There was a time with my mental illness where I could barely leave the house and for me, social media was the only real way that I could keep in contact with my friends, who were one of my main support networks for my mental illness. It even got to the point where I could FaceTime my mates if I couldn’t make it into a lesson so I didn’t miss anymore content. This was an extremely useful tool for me in insuring that I didn’t fall any further behind than I already had.

It will probably sound really cringey for older generations but social media has also given me a lot of inspiration. By following YouTubers I watch on Instagram, I feel like they give so many positive messages and little posts that will just make me smile. In particular I find posts by creators such as Samantha Fekete really helpful. This is really helped by the content I watch on YouTube. Some YouTubers I see as quite a negative influence. People like Jake and Logan Paul I personally do not see as positive influences and do not create content to inspire and add joy to others which is the kind of content I watch (I watch almost exclusively content produced by Hi5 studios and Team Edge). Even YouTubers like Shane Dawson I feel like I’ve gone off a bit. His content seems way too focused on drama and getting a reaction whereas I just like fun, simple content that is there as a break from reality and to make you smile.

There has also been lots of research into social media and the affect that it has on us. Research has proven that spending time on social media has no direct affect on our health. Obviously it can take time out from activities such as exercise and can have major affects on mental health. However, in small amounts, social media isn’t really harmful at all.

But there is definitely a bad side to social media. If you think about Instagram and Facebook, you never really see the true reality of people’s lives. I and I think pretty much everyone else is guilty of posting the version of our lives that we want people to believe is true. I think this is almost demonstrated by the fact that my social media has barely anything posted to it when I’m really bad with mental illness, as it is not a time when I take smiling selfies to post. This sort of distorted reality can really affect people’s self confidence and image of themselves. Matthias, another YouTuber I watch recently spoke on a vlog with TanManChan about how the pressure and negativity of social media made him quit it. I agree with him greatly that spending time with the ones you love is the most important thing. You have to remember that social media does not show real life. People look skinny in those photos as the camera angle makes them look that way. People look happy as that’s the version of their lives that they want you to see. You should not aspire to be what other people are but instead aspire to be the best version of yourself you can be. If you see a post on social media and feel envy at all, think about what you truly want in life. Do you want to look good for a photo on Instagram or have a good time?

I am very guilty of spending too much time on social media- I am very glad I didn’t have it when I was very young and I think that parents nowadays should definitely limit the screen time of their children to a bare minimum. They need to grow up seeing life and learning through their own eyes instead of through a phone screen.

So do I think social media is bad? No… not quite. I think it can be an extremely useful tool for communication and for a break from reality. But you need to remember that it exactly that. It is not reality, it is a false reality. Just like with a lot of things, it can be good but in moderation. If you surround yourself with people who give off good energy and make you feel good about yourself, you won’t care about social media. Surround yourself with the people who show you that you are more than just the number of likes on a photo. Find people that make you smile and laugh so much that you forget to post it to Snapchat. And just remember that social media is not everything in life. There is so much more than those few apps on your phone- if the pressure of social media ever gets too much, do what Matthias did and delete the apps off your phone. Find inspiration in the world around you, not from your phone.

Thanks for reading! What do you think about social media?
Zoe x