Blog Post #10; Caitlin Barth

The Power in our Addiciton

Since social media is an integral part of our social function, it is important to focus on its impacts on a personal level. More specifically, how it affects our mental health and how we can balance our social media usage as well as our mental stability. Many of us know that most social media realms are avenues for “self-promotion.”

Most of the time you log on and see the battle for “the best life,” however that is different for all demographics. For college students, you typically find those that are most traveled or most actively participating in college gatherings (from frat parties to tabling for your student group) are living their “best life” (on social media, that is). On the other hand, for young adults with established jobs, they may be self-promoting themselves through activities such as getting married, having kids, or living a calm, structured lifestyle. Whatever the case may be, you will find that our lives are enhanced and glorified on social media.

Still, how might that negatively impact our mental health? Yes – social media allows the release of dopamine (the reward hormone), which is why we keep finding ourselves itching to log back on every five minutes. But in the long run, we still receive a feeling of loneliness through the detached interactions social media facilitates. Only more recently people have become more vulnerable on social media by posting about their weaknesses or tragedies in their lives. This allows others to know they aren’t alone in different circumstances they might be facing, but still why is it that we find solace or reassurance from other people who we don’t even know? I might be going off on a tangent here, but why have we become so dependent on social media to provide positive reinforcement in our lives? It’s no wonder we feel more lonely because rely on a person that probably would never say hi in person to say “you look cute here” on a photo we recently posted.

Though an important take away here is to remember that we have the power to curate the environment of our social media. Instead of following thousands of people that don’t actually matter to you, follow people that are important to you or that make you feel better about yourself. Finding, friending, and interacting with those who support you has the potential to aid your self-esteem. Find what makes you happy about logging on to social media sites and keep those people or things close, while also recognizing what depresses you and be sure to detach yourself, or rather “unfollow”, those people or companies or whatever it may be. Although we may be addicted to social media, we still have the ability to structure it to our needs.