How the people you follow on social media affect your health

Your mindset is the reflection of the people you follow on social media. While it's always good to see the silver lining on everything, you shouldn’t mind seeing the not-so-bright side of it too.

Ever wondered why we are so interested in knowing what our favorite influencers are doing and saying?

Why do we believe them so easily and feel so confident about the things they tell us?

Maybe the kind of content you’re consuming is not suitable for you and is really messing with your mental and overall health. But how do you tell if it's right or not?

Are you confused about whether you like social media or not? How can you fix your love-hate relationship with social media to make it a space for growth and positivity?

How influencers affect our mindset

Social media platforms are designed in such a way that it gets us hooked. We keep scrolling mindlessly and lose track of time. Their algorithms are set in such a way to always show us content that we’re interested in.

We usually start following certain influencers for entertainment, inspiration and because we relate to them over something, it may be health, fitness, fashion, lifestyle, etcetera, etcetera.

But while engaging we are also receiving information and learning a lot of things from the content that they put out. Thus impacting our mindset and affecting our overall health in physical, social, mental, and spiritual aspects.

No matter how hard you try not to like someone or their lives portrayed on social media, if you constantly watch them, chances are you’ll eventually either start liking them and their lives or get jealous of them.

This usually happens because we are trying to believe that someone can actually have ‘the perfect life’ of our dreams. When in reality we are just watching a very short and edited part of their lives.

How to know whether the kind of content you are consuming is right for you?

Any account or page that you find is triggering to you in any aspect whether physically or mentally should be unfollowed. If you don’t see the content they are posting, it’s much easier for you to avoid negative thoughts.

Many a time we don’t even realize that some of our actions are triggered due to something that we are watching online. Try to be more mindful and attentive throughout the day to look out for signs of discomfort as soon as you watch something.

For example, someone dealing with an eating disorder or disordered eating might find “What I eat in a day” videos to be triggering. These videos might lead that person to constantly compare their food to others, which only makes the situation worse.

But there might be someone who is absolutely fine with that video and actually finds it useful to try out new recipes.

Watching all these glamorous accounts of people having fun and going out with their friends can actually take a negative toll on our mental health especially in the times of Covid when most of us(me too) are at home due to lockdowns.

Now I’m not saying it's bad to have fun and party, but no one's having fun every day. I mean come on we all have good days and bad days. But it's very important to understand that what we see online is not always completely true.

Most people often develop feelings of loneliness and anxiety watching such content. Social media is also one of the major reasons for the recent rise of eating disorders and disordered eating because people are constantly presented with such unrealistic beauty standards on these social platforms. This also leads to body dissatisfaction and body image issues especially in women and teenage girls.

To gawk at someone’s perfect insta profile for hours is just like eating peanut butter, you just can’t stop. But the process of taking such effortless pictures is not so effortless after all. It takes them hours to figure out the right lighting, angle, and poses to get it right.

And I totally respect the amount of time and hard work influencers put in to create content. But it's time that we understand that not every type of content is suitable for everyone. Every human being is unique in their own way, which also determines the type of content they like to consume.

The thing is that there is nothing as good or bad content, it is just about the right kind of content for YOU.

Why is it important to follow the right influencers

Social media is a very tricky place to be on. It is very difficult to maintain a healthy relationship with these social platforms, so it becomes extremely important to be careful of who you let “influence” you.

The right influencers can turn out to be your “Knight in shining armor”. How?

If you are feeling uncomfortable watching someone’s content, you just need to press the unfollow or mute button. SIMPLE.

In general, try to follow people who are more realistic about their lives on social media and have a positive attitude. We, humans, love things that are relatable. What we want to see is more of imperfection and realism that exists in everyone’s life. We need people who can show us the real side.

If you are dealing with any kind of disorder, illness, or problem that you want to talk about, try to find people who are already talking about such issues. Watching positive content around these things can not only help you question your insecurities but will also make you confident and comfortable enough to strike conversations around those topics.

Try to look out for people who share similar interests as you. This will help you connect with like-minded people and maybe turn out to be a source of lots and lots of inspiration and fresh ideas.

Our relationship with social media doesn't have to be complicated. With the right kind of content consumption, it can actually turn out to be a really positive space for growth.

Social media is just like a coin with two sides, a good and a bad side. You don’t need to toss the coin to see which side you’re on. It’s your life, just flip it to whichever side you want(pick the good side please). It's easier that way.