One Step to Making Social Media Your Friend and Not a Frenemy

Do you ever have those moments when a lightbulb goes off in your head? The lightbulb seems to be going off less and less for me these days, but I had one of those moments while listening to the radio the other day. They were talking about how social media affects how we see ourselves, which is obviously not earth-shaking. We all know it. We all complain about it. But what do we do about it? The light bulb moment came when the host offered a simple solution for engaging with social media.  

She realized the more time she spent scrolling on her phone, the more unhappy she was becoming. Her social media was full of good things, lots of home ideas, cooking, and fitness; all things we would think are helping us live our best lives! The images on Ticktok and Instagram were carefully crafted to perfection, but not real life. Okay, also not a startling idea! We know that the girl doing the fitness workout probably doesn’t work out in full glam and a matching sports bra every time she works out. (Let’s face it, if she does, she is not my kind of girl anyway.) Seeing all of these perfect lives was making her feel less satisfied with her own life. It was pricking her heart to be a little less confident about her cooking, house, and body. Even though these accounts were posting good things, they were not making her feel good about herself.  

“Even though these accounts were posting good things, they were not making her feel good about herself.”

Hang on - here is the light bulb moment! Her suggestion was to scroll through your social media and if there are accounts that make you feel bad about yourself, delete them. It is so simple - do a purge! It’s not real life to be perfect! It’s not real life to do a workout in full glam! It’s not real life to have everything in your house perfectly organized! It’s not real life to make your family a five-course meal every night.

I remember watching a video of someone working out and she said something to the effect of, “Excuse my appearance, I was just trying this exercise out. I’ll have on full glam when I do it for the video”. Wait, what?!? Why?!? Can we stop this madness? Who works out like that?

The very nature of social media being so visual has created a need for influencers to craft beautiful images of perfection, but perfection isn’t real and perfection isn’t always inspiring either! So that is where the real crux of the matter is. We want to see beautiful images, something that transports us, but not to the point that there are seeds of self-doubt planted.  

“We want to see beautiful images, something that transports us, but not to the point that there are seeds of self-doubt planted.”

So how do I find a happy medium between engaging with positive social media accounts and those that make me stressed and unhappy with myself? Scroll - and do a little soul searching while you scroll. If you are constantly looking at an account that makes you feel bad about yourself - unfollow it, even if there is good information. If it makes you feel less than - it is not worth the good information.

Meg and I feel so strongly about this - which is why we try to be authentic when we work out. When we film a video, we put on our workout clothes and go downstairs to workout. No glam….which is probably obvious to those of you that have seen our videos. Hmm, upon further reflection this could be why we don't have many followers (haha!), but also why we feel good about the videos we do with you. We wear black because it always matches and it hides the coffee stains. We do not even own matching sports bras and leggings. We are real women trying to live a healthier life - not a perfect life. We suspect most of you feel the same way.  

Perhaps the best thing we can all do is go through the list of people we are following and do a purge. Look for real people to inspire us, and remove the accounts that create a false reality to look perfect. It is a simple task - remove the accounts that prick your heart and make you feel a little "less than." 

Social media is feeding your self-worth messages, whether we like it or not. What is your heart hearing? You are incredible! Fill your feed with accounts that inspire you to feel fantastic and confident about yourself!