We all spend hours visiting social media websites. We're masters at switching from one screen to another just to check Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest and a myriad of other websites. Could all that time on social media be making you sad? Google : Facebook Depression and read on to see how the posts you see daily could be making you sad.
1. It looks like everyone else is having an awesome time while you’re just sitting at home...
Don't those ladies look like they're having the best time on the beach? When your friends make posts like this with their cute summertime quotes its hard to feel good while scrolling your Facebook page at work on your phone.
To combat the summertime blues, you may want to visit your own page or pull out a photo album to remind yourself of all the beaches you've been to. You may even just need a hiatus from social media which has been found to tempt people in comparing themselves to others. Happiness shouldn't be a competition for likes.
2. Social media follows you everywhere you go!
If you've been feeling overwhelmed, heavy, or been having trouble sleeping lately it might be time to unplug for a while. I recommend a happy compromise: head over to YouTube and search for guided meditation or yoga videos. You'll be glad you took a break from social media.
Remember everyone is different and meditation may cause you to go to sleep or you may not be able to concentrate for very long and that's okay. Just keep breathing deeply and you'll get the hang of it.
3. Your inbox is empty.
This is legitimately stressful and can make you feel unimportant. Checking social media less often may help you feel better about this. Reaching out to the people you'd really like to hear from or haven't talked to in a while can help with this as well.
4. Because you follow your ex
Boom! There's your ex and new "B.A.E." about to go swimming at your old favorite spot. You showed your ex that spot! And maybe it's time to mute their newsfeed so you can stop dwelling on how fake their happiness may or may not be. If you still follow your ex and you spend a lot of time on their page it may be making you sad enough that you're having a difficult time moving on.
5. You feel you’re wasting your time by scrolling your endless feed.
If scrolling Tumblr is making you feel like you're wasting your day then use the site to answer questions you have about politics or becoming an activist. Stop scrolling and go for a walk! No parks nearby? Just stand outside and breathe in some fresh air, it'll reset your brain and you'll be able to concentrate on a more fulfilling task.
6. You haven’t used social media to be actually social in a really long time.
Create an event, and, dare I say it, actually invite your friends to hangout. That is what social media was designed for. Afraid no one will show? Everyone that's ever hosted anything is always afraid no one will show. Don't invest a lot of money into any plans you aren't sure of and follow up with texts or calls to confirm attendance.
If no one shows up, plan another event. Be sure to change the time of day or make sure Saturday nights work for everyone. When people don't show it's usually because they felt they wouldn't have enough time after work to refresh, or the location was really far for them.
7. You post, but get no “likes.”
Likes are everything these days. I've deleted posts just because they didn't get at least ten likes in an hour. Likes make us feel validated. Try to not post things in anticipation of likes but just because you want to share it with the members of your inner circle.
8. 100 vines later… it’s 3:00 A.M. and you’re still awake.
Even if you don't have a lot to do the next day, irregular sleeping habits can really impact your mood and immune system. Substitute the late night newsfeed scroll with reading a good old-fashioned book.
9. You’ve maxed out on Twitter rants and don’t even know it.
Twitter is the "it" spot for people to rant about their day! Don't believe me? Next time you check your feed grab a sticky-note and jot down a tick-mark each time an angry tweet rolls by. You may want to take a break from Twitter or follow a bunch of inspirational quote accounts to counter-balance all the negative energy.
10. DRAMA
Even if you aren't being cyber-bullied, social media is still the perfect breeding grounds for people to post their offensive opinions. Maybe you have a lot of friends who have been less than sympathetic to the cries of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Or you found out that someone is a Trump supporter and that made your heart and head ache. Perhaps, you're friends with the kind of people who have infinitely many haters and must address those haters every hour with a post about how much money they have that their haters don't. (We all know someone like this.) Are you more caught up in your friend's break-up than you should be? Sometimes all the drama we watch on TV or read about on social media can make us feel heavy. To help unpack you may want to un-follow people's newsfeeds on Facebook. They'll never know that you stopped being sucked into their negative life story to leave your house looking for adventure.
For more on social media depression check out these articles:
http://www.yourlifeyourvoice.org/Pages/tip-social-media-depression.aspx
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/facebook-depression/
http://theconversation.com/is-social-media-making-people-depressed-58242
http://www.hercampus.com/health/mental-health/are-social-media-making-you-depressed
