by Dallas Withrow
In a time dominated by social media, scrolling through your feed can take a toll on mental wellness. It’s crucial to curate our feeds intentionally. Focusing on the importance of who you follow and the type of content they post. Social media can cause negative self-comparison. Here is a how to on creating an intentional feed that feeds your mental wellness.
Be Intentional
Don’t follow people you envy, follow people who inspire you. You might be thinking “what is the difference?” While it can be hard to decipher, envy is defined as the desire to have something someone else possesses while inspiration is the mental motivation to do something.
Stop following people who you can’t relate to. This can trigger envy. Over time, I have learned to follow people who are more like me. I am not talking about movie types or political views. I mean body type and height. I found myself following influencers and models who look nothing like me. This led to body dysmorphia and depression. By following people who you can relate to, it can minimize that aspect of negativity on social media.
Follow accounts that make you happy. Whether you like inspiration quotes, puppies, fun recipes or sports teams. Your social media should be a place of happiness and light. The world is already full of darkness and bad news, so why let that leak into the platforms created for happiness.
The link below is a great resource instagram has shared with its users.
https://creators.instagram.com/blog/create-supportive-content-on-Instagram?locale=en_US
Engage Mindfully
You don’t have to engage with everything! The algorithm is going to show you more of what they think you like, the more you engage with things that make you feel down, the more you will see it. Instead, engage with content you enjoy. The more you like, comment and share content you like, the more you will see!
Don’t be scared to block or mute content. It can be hard to have self control on social media. If you find yourself engaging with content that makes you feel unwell, BLOCK. It stops you from searching and seeing that content.
Set a time limit. It is easy to get swept away in social media. Don’t give it that power. Engaging in social media can get you sucked in. This time limit serves as a reminder not to give social media the power to consume our valuable time and attention excessively. To help with this, Iphone has a feature that allows you to set time limits on apps. So, if you spend an hour on social media you will get an alert that it is locked for the day.
Alter your Mindset
Instagram is made to be a creative environment; don’t let it be something it wasn’t created to be. Their mission is “capture and share the world’s moments.”
Use social media as a tool for practicing gratitude and appreciation. Instead of comparing yourself to others, focus on celebrating your own accomplishments and the things you’re grateful for in your life. Share positive experiences and express gratitude for the connections you’ve made through social media.
Take a different approach to social media as a whole. Social media is what you make it. Platforms like instagram can be used in a healthy and balanced way.
Alter your mindset, be mindful of what you engage with and be intentional. Don’t use social media to turn your brain off. Instead use it to feed your brain and promote mental wellness. Social media gives us so much power, learn to use it in a way to benefit yourself. By being intentional with who you follow and what you engage in you can create a space that fuels you.
Hi Dallas! I enjoyed reading your blog as it is so relevant to today’s society where we are constantly on social media and consuming information that is from a curated feed. It’s important to recognize that we have the power to shape our social media experience in a way that nurtures our mental health and promotes positivity.
Awesome post! You’re right, it can sometimes be hard to differentiate which influencers I follow envy me or inspire me. Sometimes it’s a slippery slope where at one point I was inspired, but now their content isn’t benefiting me positively. I am pro-unfollowing people you don’t want to follow.
I loved this piece Dallas. I find it so interesting and important to be able to combine AI and mental wellness and bring them together in a positive light. I like how you talked about how important it is to interact with content that uplifts you rather than exposing yourself to something that can be detrimental towards your mental stability. Great job!
Great post Dallas! I think that having a positive environment on your social media can really benefit your self-wellness. It can be so hard sometimes to hit that unfollow button but it can be so rewarding once you are able to prioritize your mental health!
This is a great post! As someone who spends probably way too much time on social media, this post gave me reminders on how to consume media yet still be in a more positive headspace. It can be hard to not engage with everything or change your mindset, but these things will help your mental health immensely and I think it’s great you pointed that out.
Hi Dallas, I loved your post! I appreciated that you urged the reader to be intentional about who they follow. I oftentimes find myself not being able to tell the difference between who I envy and who inspires me when it comes to influencers, so you bring up great points!