Social media plays a powerful role in influencing self-worth and mental health. Read to know how social media affects your self-worth and confidence!
The Rise of Social Media and Its Influence
How many times have you doom scrolled on Instagram or Facebook and found yourself feeling low because everyone seems to be living a better life than you? The rise of such platforms has raised many concerns about the negative effects of social media. Every other day, there’s a new app to make you feel bad about yourself. It’s human nature to compare ourselves with our peers, and social media amplifies this behaviour. Social media and self-worth are closely related. These platforms only show the happy and perfectly edited parts of everyone’s lives, making us feel inferior, especially if we’re going through tough times. And the constant bombarding of content doesn’t help either. You’re constantly fed superficial content that can create unrealistic expectations from life and make you feel insecure and inadequate.
The negative impacts of social media on mental health are real! Not only do these perfect images give you anxiety and fear of missing out, but you could also become the victim of cyberbullying, which can be detrimental to your mental well-being. It can also exacerbate validation-seeking behaviours, making you measure your self-worth based on likes and comments. Below, we further evaluate the interconnection of social media and self-esteem as well as self-worth and social media.
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Social Media and the Pressure to Present a ‘Perfect’ Image
Social media has created an unrealistic culture of looking perfect all the time. People feel pressured to be perfect online due to the fear of being judged, the desire to be validated by others and to be at par with others in every aspect of their lives. The influencer culture adds fuel to the fire when it comes to presenting perfection online. One of the most negative outcomes of the influencer culture is the social media influence on body image. These platforms almost make you feel like you can never have the perfect body because someone out there always has a better body. While there are many body-positive influencers out there, the ratio of them and the others simply doesn’t match up. This makes confidence and social media a tricky combination. Being constantly bombarded with the perfect images can take a hit on your confidence, even if you’re the most secure person in the room. Not only that, the pressure of always being perfect on social media can lead to stress and anxiety, low self-esteem and eating disorders.
The best way to combat this pressure is to be as authentic as you can be online and only follow those who inspire you and are their authentic selves, too. It also helps to take a digital detox from time to time and disconnect from the social media world. It’s worth remembering that what you see on social media isn’t always real, and it helps to practice self-compassion. Gaining social media self-confidence takes a lot of work, so be kind to yourself.
Unlock this practical guide to embrace your authentic self with Shubhra Chaturvedi.
The Psychological Effects of Social Media Comparison
Social media comparison can significantly impact your psyche. Comparing yourself with others can lead to lower self-esteem, lower self-worth, increased anxiety levels, deteriorated sleep quality and higher stress. The good news is that you can use comparison to your advantage by following accounts that promote self-confidence on social media through inspirational content that talks about self-improvement and social support. If you find yourself experiencing any of the above negative effects of comparison on social media, take some time off and engage in real-life socialising through offline activities.
Know why judging others holds you back in this short session with Dr. Shubha Vilas.
An Excessive Amount of Feedback Hurting Confidence
As humans, our brains are not wired to receive so much feedback from everyone every day, all at once. So when your brain keeps getting dopamine hits from the hundreds and thousands of likes and comments on your online profiles, your brain can get overwhelmed and disturbed. This information overload leads to depression and low confidence levels because then you start associating the number of likes and comments with your belief in your abilities. You start thinking that your social media self-worth is your actual self-worth. This can get you stuck in a rut to become more acceptable and likeable based on the excessive feedback that you keep receiving through these platforms, which can seriously warp your perspective on life and the way you look at yourself. If you find yourself going down that rabbit hole, make sure to take a pause and re-evaluate your thoughts. Cultivating self-awareness through meditation and journaling can help here.
Explore this guided hypnotic meditation to boost confidence with Harrish Sai Raman.
Conclusion: Cultivating Mindfulness and Authenticity in the Digital Space
Social media can be tricky to navigate for most of us. It can have many negative impacts on our self-esteem and confidence levels. Combating this is by cultivating mindfulness through meditation, journaling and breathwork. It also helps to prioritise authenticity when navigating the digital space. Make sure you’re being real online and you follow those who are also being real. It’s best to stay away from influencers and individuals who promote unrealistic beauty and living standards. Learn more about building social media self-confidence from experts on SoulSensei.
Sources
Samarpan – How is social media hurting your self-esteem?
