Have you ever looked at someone on social media and wished you could have their life? I have had this post in my draft folder for a few weeks now, but was finally inspired to finish and post after watching the #Visabae story on youtube. If you have not seen this, you can follow along here for the initial video. In this video we see a popular Instagram model reveal that the lifestyle portrayed on her social media has all been somewhat misleading. She was basically doing it for the gram. If we are being honest, we all do the same to some extent. The images we share on social media are an edited, well captioned snapshot of only the parts our lives we want people to see. We tend to show the parts of us we think people want to see and hide the rest.
If we’re being honest, we’ve all faced this situation. You are having a good day, you are having a good hair day- everything seems great. That is until you pull out your phone and start scrolling through your timeline. You stumble across the profile of that ‘friend’ you haven’t seen since high school and start stalking. What was meant to be a 5 min check-in has turned into an hour and you turn your phone off feeling crummy about your own life. You start to compare your life to others on social media- “What do they have that I don’t have”? You wonder. “Why can’t my kids be as well behaved as other people’s kids”?
The truth is we live in a world of pretence and false realities! We spend more time thinking about how we want to portray ourselves to people we don’t know than we do forming and fostering meaningful relationships.
We NEED a REALITY CHECK!
I heard it said before that “The grass is always greener on social media”. This couldn’t be more true! Social media is not all bad. However, I would urge you to do regular check in’s with yourself to ensure that you are not getting swallowed up in the whole social media frenzy.
ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD YA’LL!
Here are some questions that we can ask ourselves regarding our social media use.
Is this the best use of my time?
This should be a frequent consideration for any social media user. You may be shocked if someone were to tally up the number of hours spent on social media per day. Is there something else that you could/ should be doing instead of browsing through social media. I know that I have fallen victim to the act of waking up in the morning, grabbing my phone, turning off the alarm and immediately going to Instagram. What started as a quick check in on social media can turn into hours. In fact there was a day that I missed my train for work, not because I woke up late, but because I chose to spend the first few minutes of my day going through my social media feed. Is this the best use of your time? Likely NOT!
The Key is moderation. If social media is taking up a disproportionate amount of your time, you need a reality check.
Am I battling Envy of Discontent?
When you are going through a difficult season in your life, it can be difficult to rejoice with others. Maybe you are going through some financial hardships, yet you see all your friends on vacation. You want to be happy for them, but every time you see those pictures, you start comparing your situation to theirs. You’ve been praying to get married, and all you see are the BellaNaija posts in your explore feed. The truth is that whatever you are lacking (or perceive to be lacking), there will always be someone else prospering in that area of their life. If you find it difficult to share in their joy or you find yourself comparing yourself to others and battling discontent, it is time to disconnect.
Social media is great if you can use it the right way. The truth behind social media is that it is not as glamorous or ‘fun’ as it may appear (at least not to everybody). At the end of the day, you don’t want your story to be like #visabae story. Spend your time actually enjoying your life instead of doing it for the gram!
If anyone reading this is having a hard time when it comes to social media, you may need to disconnect for a season. This might mean 1 week to some, a year to others. It is just a period of time where you can re-focus yourself on whats really important. If you are wondering what you can do if you are battling social media envy, you can find out on this post.
Can anyone relate? Leave a comment and let me know!!
You’re so spot on! Whatever you’re lacking or praying for, someone else has that thing. It can really hurt but I guess it’s just life. I like to scroll through Twitter and lately, I’ve been trying to reduce the time I spend on there. It can be fun and all but it’s very easy to get carried away and do nothing productive for hours. Instagram too. I think it’s better to enjoy social media in small doses. Great post! xx
Coco Bella Blog
You are absolutely right Demi! Social Media in itself is not bad, but it is better enjoyed in doses…lol! Thank You for reading!! I am really glad you stopped by!
I absolutely agree with you, darling! Many people think like that but the truth is we are not always pretty, with great hair and perfect life. That’s why I love showing myself on social media without makeup or my hair done first thing in thw morning because I want my followers to see me and accept me as I really am. Thank you for sharing this post, I hope it will help many people! ?
Thank You so much for reading Monica! Always love hearing your insight! Your absolutely spot on! I guess we also need to be more intentional about showing an authentic-ness through our social media!