With more and more of our time spent connected to our devices, it’s important to understand the relationship between your well-being and your time on social media.
For many of us, it’s a part of our normal daily routine – the constant checking, updating and scrolling of Instagram, Facebook and other social media sites. While it can be a great way to check in with family and friends and follow others who share your interests, recent studies show that social media can have a negative impact on your health.
The average person spends almost 2.5 hours each day on social media. With more and more of our time spent connected to our devices, it’s important to understand the relationship between your well-being and your time on social media, as well as strategies to ensure your relationship with social media is a healthy one.
The Benefits of Social Media
When you have a healthy relationship with social media, there can be many benefits to using it, including:
- Staying connected with friends and family regardless of geographic location
- Being exposed to diverse and different thoughts, ideas and perspectives
- Finding community with others who share your identity, abilities or interests, especially if you feel marginalized within your own community
- Creating new friendships
- Having a safe place for self-expression, especially for those who may struggle with face-to-face communication
- Sustaining communication through periods of deployment, separation and transition for members of the military
Social Media’s Impact on Your Well-being
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, more than 1 in 5 U.S. adults is living with a mental illness. Widespread use of social media has been identified as a factor in the rise of mental health issues.
More and more studies, including one from the National Library of Medicine, show a link between social media use and several negative health outcomes, including:
- Insomnia and increased stress levels
- Increased feelings of anxiety, depression and loneliness
- Low self-esteem (constant exposure to filtered images may make you unhappy with your own body image)
- Dissatisfaction with life (believing that others you see have more fun, better relationships and a better life)
- Social anxiety due to decreased real-life social interactions
- Unregulated emotions (social media may be used to distract you from problems you should be dealing with)
- Increased post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms (when you’re being exposed to emotionally charged, unfiltered information, it can be challenging to handle)
Tips for Healthy Social Media Use
The National Institutes of Health, as well as many other sources, share tips for healthy social media use, including:
- Evaluate your relationship with social media. Most devices can track how much time you’re spending on social media sites, which can help you evaluate your relationship with them. How much time are you spending on it each day? Does that time make you feel good, or do you find you’re depressed or down afterward? This thoughtful reflection should help you decide whether you need to adjust your relationship.
- Set time limits on your social media use. Social media sites use algorithms to try to maximize how much time you spend there. To help your self-control, designate specific times for social media use and set limits. You can do this through your phone settings or on your own. For example, give yourself 30 minutes after dinner or two 15-minute breaks during the day to scroll. To make it easier, log out of all social media sites, so that it’s harder to get in and scroll outside of your “set” times. Keep your phone away from your bed so that you can’t scroll right before bed or when you first wake up.
- Create a better experience. If social media leaves you feeling upset, try fixing what you see. Unfollow people whose accounts make you feel bad and try to fill your feed with uplifting messages and content.
- See it for what it is. Social media is full of selective images and snapshots of a person’s life. Filters can change physical appearances and hide imperfections, and many posts are “highlights” that don’t include all the messy parts of life.
- Find fulfillment and happiness outside of social media. Prioritize in-person connections and spend time doing activities that fulfill you away from your phone, such as taking a walk with a friend, reading a book, playing sports or taking up a new hobby.
- Set limits for your children. The impact of social media can be even greater on youth, so as a parent, be a good model of responsible social media use. Make sure your child’s social media use isn’t disrupting sleep, activities or in-person friendships. Discuss openly the benefits and risks of social media.
- Seek support. Whether you need help treating depression or anxiety, tips for building self-esteem or coping strategies to manage stress, anger or negative emotions that can result from social media use, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) mental health resources can get you the support you deserve.
Resources
- The American Academy of Pediatrics helps families create their own family media plan, outlining ways to set screen-free zones and times, choose good content and establish safety rules.
- The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory calls attention to the effects of social media on youth mental health, with guidance and resources applicable to all age groups. This may be especially relevant to Service members, as many are young adults themselves.
- VA’s PTSD Bytes podcast devotes an episode to discussing the relationship between social media and mental health, including how it can perpetuate PTSD symptoms.
- Forbes magazine offers an interesting look at how social media is changing the culture of serving in the military, in both positive and potentially negative ways.
Before you make your next post, take the time to make sure your relationship with social media is a healthy one.