Signs That Social Media Is Starting To Affect Your Self-Esteem
In the age of social media, it's hard not to have moments where you compare yourself to what you're seeing online. We're bombarded with perfect pictures of people jet setting around the globe or celebrities going to extravagant events, and we start to feel like our lives are lesser-than.
How do we know when our infatuation social media has gone too far, though? Here are a couple of telltale signs for you to watch out for and be aware of.
You Feel That Itch When You Haven't Posted In A Little While
You feel like you should be updating your followers no matter how many or few you have, and if you've gone for a couple days or weeks without posting, you start to feel like you should be doing something worthy of posting.
You Can't Think Of The Last Time You Posted An Unedited Photo
Filters are basically your best friend because you need to make sure that every photo you post projects the right image, and you feel like you have to edit all your photos in order to make them perfect.
You Feel A Little Sad After You Close Twitter
Having to "log off" (not that any of us ever fully logs off anymore) leaves you feeling a little sad or empty thinking about what could be going on while you're signed off.
But Then You Start to Feel Better The Longer You Go Without Checking It
If you spend time away from it, even if it's a couple of hours at work when you don't look at your phone, you feel better about yourself and your day than if you were constantly looking at those Twitter updates.
You Have Constant FOMO
Regardless of how close you are to the people involved, and regardless of if you were invited and just couldn't go, you always end up feeling left out. Even if what you're doing is just as fun or good.
You Compare Yourself To Everyone Online
You feel less secure in yourself, in your body, in your own successes, and your own life in general, because you're comparing yourself to the highlight reel that people project on social media.
You Spend A Lot Of Time Curating Your Feed
You have your posts planned out two or three posts at a time, at least, making sure that everything you post fits the perfectly curated image you've spent months creating on your feed.
You Feel Disappointed If A Post Doesn't Receive A Certain Number Of Likes
You waited until the "right" time of day to post, you picked the perfect caption, and every aspect of the photo is good. You were happy and wanted to share something that happened in your life, but then it didn't get the response you thought and you're disappointed.
And Then You Delete Photos That Don't "Do Well"
If you're the person who deletes a photo from your feed because it doesn't get enough likes or comments in a certain amount of time, you know that you're letting social media affect your life too much. The whole point is supposed to be sharing your life regardless of the reaction you get.
You're Jealous Of Others' Successes Online
And you're even jealous of people you don't know. You see celebrities or influencers going to big events or you creep on a friend of a friend who just bought a new house, and you can't help but feel jealous.
You're Less Happy For Your Friends' Successes
Not only are you envious of other people's successes, you're finding that you're struggling to be happy for your friends, too. You write supportive comments on that engagement photo, but you're only doing it because you know you should.
Social Media Is Making You Paranoid About Your Relationship
You start to feel like your own relationship is inadequate compared to your friends', and then you convince yourself your partner must be using social media to cheat on you or slide into other girls' DMs.
And Now You're Using It To Stalk Your Partner
Now you've gone from worrying about what your partner is doing on social media to going through their feeds and looking at what they're looking at or who they follow and watching their every scroll.
You Get More Anxious Or Upset As You Scroll
You could be in a great mood, having a perfect day with everything going right, but then you start to scroll through Instagram and you slowly feel more and more anxious or sad.
You Have No Inspiration
Even though you're posting, you're not inspired by the content you're putting out. Everything you post doesn't seem to compare to what your friends are doing, and you're just doing it out of routine.
You Need Second-Hand Approval Before Posting Anything
Beyond sending two or three selfies to your group chat when you need help picking the best one, if you feel like you need approval before posting anything in order to make sure it's perfect, that's how you know it's concerning.
You Find You're Less Confident With In-Person Interactions
You might present a confident persona online, but you're finding that social interactions with actual real people are becoming increasingly difficult for you, or you're questioning the self you put out into the world in real life.
You Can't Enjoy Anything Without Thinking About Posting It
No matter what you're doing, you feel like you should be posting about it. You live-streamed half of the concert you went to last week, you wouldn't let your friend eat her meal until you had taken a photo, and you posted three photos of you "enjoying nature" after you went hiking.
You Spend All Your Downtime Online
Whether you're watching Netflix or sitting waiting for your friend to pick you up, you're always scrolling through social media aimlessly. You're not even absorbing the content, you're just absorbing the negative energy you get from it.
How Can You Help Yourself?
The best way to help yourself is to limit the time you're spending on social media, and change what you're looking at when you are online. Unfollow people who consistently make you feel worse, and don't open Instagram every time you have a moment to spare.
