Is social media using YOU?

Use social media to your advantage, don't let it use you.

This is something that took me a while to understand. As someone who has been dependent upon my social media presence and Instagram followers for putting my thoughts out there and promoting my work, I always believed that social media was helping me. It was, it definitely was but not without a cost. Never without a price.

Let me give you an example. Netflix barely costs 10 to 20 dollars and I was shocked at how cheap it was to stream shows and movies at high quality on this site. Only then it struck me that the actual price paid by everyone who subscribes to this site is not in terms of money but in terms of time. Time is invaluable. Netflix does not cost 10 dollars, it costs hours and hours of watching shows and movies that may never benefit your life.

Similarly, Instagram is a free platform, It does not cost me anything in terms of money. It may not even cost me much of my time if I discipline my use but what it often costs me is self-worth and self-esteem. If my use of Instagram is making me feel worthless, if having access to others' lives makes me feel miserable about my own and if viewing the work of others makes me want to abandon my own work, I am not using Instagram for my advantage anymore.

Social media is not toxic. None of these platforms is inherently problematic. The only issue is that we often fail to evaluate the reasons we use a certain platform. Whether you use Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc, you need to clearly define your goals and expectations from these platforms and must also specify the kind of content you NEED to stay away from whether that content adversely affects your mental health or does not align with your moral values. Once you know exactly what you are looking for and what you want to stay away from, you can do the following to take this a step forward:

• Follow mindfully: Only follow accounts that serve your purpose, following for gossip barely helps anyone.

• Do a monthly cleanup: Go through your feed and analyze the content you see and based on what you like and what you don't, remove accounts that you do not enjoy seeing content from anymore.

• Set a schedule: No need for a strict schedule but at least determine the number of hours you will allow yourself to use any social media.

• Take breaks when needed: Even if you have a public account and are scared of losing followers, it is okay to take a break from social media when it gets too overwhelming for you.

• Don't fall for trends: Trends are the easiest way of getting attention on any social media platform but don't just fall for them. First, do thorough research and see if a trend aligns with your values and beliefs, and only participate in it if it will serve you any purpose.

I hope you found these tips helpful!