How excessive use of social media is harmful for your self esteem

Social media has a way of making us feel we aren't doing enough

We’ve been at home for over two months and the only thing keeping us connected to the outside world is TV or social media. Social media has proved to be a very useful tool in building communities, helping us stay in touch with our loved ones, learning and gaining knowledge and also keeping tabs on what’s happening in the real world. But while social media has countless benefits there are also some negative some negative traits to it. Let’s shed some light over ways social media makes us feel we are not doing enough.

Nobody is posting their failures: We often see clips of TED talks or talk shows where celebrities and important people come and talk about their struggles and how they made it big after hitting rock bottom. But how often do we see videos where people of influence come and discuss the failures while they’re dealing with them? Nobody talks about their failures and struggles just how they made it out. We must keep reminding ourselves what we see is a photoshopped version of their actual life. 



You did not wake up like this: We see people posting pictures in bed with the caption: ‘woke up like this’. We all know it’s either make-up or a filter or is it FaceTune? We all have flaws, some are blessed with better genes and naturally have good skin but majority of what you see on social media is edited and made 10 times more aesthetically pleasing. 

Unrealistic beauty standards: Girls with small noses, big lips, flawless skin and amazing hair are all over social media. This leads to women and young girls and even men trying to achieve unrealistic beauty standards else we feel we are not good enough. At times we get so involved in the digital world that we forget that it is not the reality. Work on yourself and show off your talent and work through the same platforms. 



Race to do better: While in quarantine many of us saw countless people post how they’re spending time productively while it is applaudable, those who are dealing with the pandemic negatively must not feel bad because chances are they also have days or phases during which they deal with difficult emotions. 



The more likes the better: While we all love to get likes and attention and we do get instant gratification when we get 100 plus likes or comments, know that it is temporary. Until and unless we don’t love ourselves, we will always seek approval from others which is unhealthy and damaging to our own self.

Blame game: At times we get so entangled in this digital world, we forget that the keyboard warriors are just people who have nothing better to do than spread hate and negativity.