Can social media be positive in moderation?
There’s no doubting that social media is bad for you.
It makes you insecure, constantly compare yourself and your belongings to others, isolates you more from people, and can even lead to anxiety and depression.
Of course. We’re constantly plugged in, refreshing our Instagram feeds to see how perfect everyone else's lives are. At night, we slide into bed and check Facebook only to scroll deeper and deeper into the void for hours. We wake up in the morning, heavy-eyed and tired, only to Snapchat our breakfast.
Perhaps our brains weren't made for this much information. To be constantly comparing ourselves to others and yearning to be distracted from the imperfections in our own lives.
Social media can kill productivity, too. You intend to check your feed briefly, only to end up spending an hour scrolling mindlessly through your timeline.
The algorithms are designed to keep you engaged; scrolling mindlessly.
Your attention is worth money, so social media companies want to keep you clicking and scrolling.
Long gone is the neat chronological order of content in timelines that made it easy to stop scrolling. Before, you’d see something twice and know it was time to put your phone down.
Facebook’s algorithm, for instance, prefers engaging content from native users. The more something is liked by your friends, the more likely it is to wash up in your timeline. And the more you’ll keep engaging.
Maybe you see your distant cousin has just proposed with a big fat diamond ring, or your old school friends sipping Pina Coladas in the tropics somewhere on Instagram. Only to look around your boring, grey office and sigh. If only…
And so you open your phone again. It’s a vicious cycle.
It’s worse for mentally ill people
People who live with mental illness suffer from social media’s societal impacts in particular. Stigma and trivializing of mental illnesses on social media are far too common. While stigma makes one feel as if they are a mark on society — the black sheep, trivializations of mental illness can hinder help-seeking behavior.
If you or anyone you know need mental help, there are resources available.
The most prevalent of posts which contribute to stigma include the association between schizophrenic or paranoid persons with violence. Schizophrenic people are often associated with violence of labeled as ‘psycho’ on social media. This is not the case, people with schizophrenia are often not violent. Still, these labels make people with mental illnesses feel like less of a person.
On social media, it’s easy to say hurtful things. We don’t consider it, but these words cut deep and leave only vulnerability behind.
Meanwhile, on Twitter and Tumblr, mental illnesses are often trivialised or romanticized by people who don’t know what it is like to suffer from a mental illness. #Depression culture on Tumblr makes depression look beautiful and attractive. In reality, depression is nowhere near beautiful. It is dark and dangerous; an uphill battle.
Moreover, on Twitter people often tweet about being neat alongside the #OCD. This undermines what OCD really is — a complex disorder that impacts each person differently.
Undermining the severity of mental illness on social media may seem innocent, but it can be detrimental. What if you had to suffer silently because you felt your suffering was never enough?
“All along I was suffering OCD and I wasn’t aware. I had been conditioned to believe… a stereotype, a lie. That delayed me from seeking help for many years.” — Ginda Hadden, Why OCD Isn’t About Being a Neatfreak.
But social media isn’t all bad
But is social media as bad as we make it out to be? The answer, like most good things, lies in moderate use.
There are some positives to social media. You can look at cute pictures of your aunt’s dog by the fireplace at Christmas, wish your distant cousin a ‘Happy Birthday’ every now and again (perhaps more so out of obligation than choice), and message your friend that you met on that Contiki tour that one time … even if it was all a drunken blur.
Facebook can build a sense of community, too. Some positive groups and communities have been made on Facebook to connect people. It isn’t hard to search your local area and find a gardening group, photography club, or something of the sort. These groups are a great way for people to connect with people who share their interests and seek advice or guidance.
Social media is a powerful tool for connecting people. Journalists can break stories remotely by connecting to users on Twitter. Lost cats and dogs can be reunited with their families thanks to community notice pages.
Of course, it's not all pretty. There are the grotesque corners of Facebook groups, too. Full of trolls and vile hostility.
And there are the outliers — truly meaningful social media that connects and fulfills people as Facebook claims to. Quora, for example, is a primarily positive place to seek intellect and to learn something new.
Then there’s Medium, the rare gem of a platform that is exceedingly positive. Users create powerful, meaningful content, and engage with each other genuinely over shared interests. I’ve been an avid reader on here for six months, and I’m yet to see a hint of toxicity from Medium’s users. Maybe it is out there, but there’s an abundance of meaningful, quality content to sift through first.
The answer lies in moderation
When I gave up social for media completely at the start of the year, I realized two things. Foremost, how dependent I was on social media. After deleting Facebook, I caught myself continually going to check it. It was almost second nature to unlock my phone as soon as I could. Of course, Facebook wasn’t there so I was left aware of how bad this habit was.
My second realization was how much time we waste on social media. Since I wasn’t constantly on social media, I had an abundance of time on my hands. Reading on Medium proved far more beneficial than keeping up with what people had for lunch.
Time is our most valuable resource. That’s what companies pay Facebook and social networks for, and it’s what we give away when we scroll endlessly.
To truly enjoy social media, we ought to use it in moderation. And stay in control of our time online — not let the algorithms control us.
If we stay mindful of how much time we are spending on social networks, we can use social media productively. Instead of being distracted for hours, you can connect with who you need to and know when it’s time to get back to work.
There are many great apps for staying in control of social media and phone use. Apple offers Screentime to help you see trends in your habits and track usage. On Android, a similar alternative is Action Dash.
Keep social media off your work computer.
If you work in an office or study on a laptop, keep social media off your computer. It’s far too easy to get distracted or procrastinate when you have work to do. Consider Offtime of Coldturkey, both of which block you out of websites that you nominate.
Your phone can be a deadly rabbit hole, too. A remote internet connection means access to the sites you hate the most anywhere. The best solution is to delete them or to keep them away from your home screen when possible.
Use a second device
Chances are there is a spare phone or tablet lying in a drawer somewhere, collecting dust. You can set this up and make it your designated social media device. This will help you stay in control and create a mental barrier between work and leisure devices.
I set up an old iPad 2 that was being used as a paperweight in our study. On there, I have apps like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Reddit.
Having a separate device for play (the iPad), and one for work (my phone and computer) have helped me curb my social media use and engage online more mindfully. Rarely do I find myself scrolling deeper into the void nowadays. Instead, I am present in the moment and not distracted by constant notifications and emails.
I can use this iPad to track my screen time, too and know that I am in control. Have peace of mind knowing that social media isn’t controlling me.
Social media can be harmful if we let it consume us.
But it can be positive too. If we stay in control and be mindful of how we use social media, we can better connect to its roots — connecting with family, friends, and community.
