Why We All Have A Responsibility To Consciously Consume Social Media

Social media can be a truly wonderful thing. It’s allowed me to forge friendships, get jobs and has enabled me to develop a creative outlet that I truly love. It helps to connect us to more people than ever before but, like anything in life, there is a darker side to social media that is starting to dominate the conversation. We are consuming more content than ever before and spending more time doing so. It is so seamlessly integrated into our lives that it’s almost unnoticeable and it’s also still relativly new. Instagram was not really a ‘thing’ when I was at school, Twitter wasn’t as dominant as it now is and Facebook was just a way that we chatted with friends. It’s newness means that none of us really know what we are doing, we don’t know what is coming next and we’re all fumbling through it to try and work out how best to incorporate it into our lives.

With it’s prevelance in our everyday lives it’s no wonder that studies are starting to show that there is an effect to using too much social media. Being bombarded with images of people living your life but better all day can quickly switch from being the motivation you need to being a source of dissapointment and dispair. The question though is what is “too much”? And how do we work to make sure that what we are consuming isn’t crossing that fine line from inspiration to self-loathing and should all the responsibility come down to us?

When it comes to responsibility, I think we all have a part to play. It’s no secret that what we see on social media, particuarly but not limited to Instagram, is an altered reality. Sometimes it’s just the brightening of a skyline, applying a filter or upping the saturation. But sometimes it’s so much more, from bodies sculpted with the help of Face Tune to Photoshop acting as the substitute for a plane ticket and allowing you to insert yourself in front of any monument or coastline that you desire. There is of course a whole community of very talented creatives who create beautiful fantasy-like images, but often that is very clear and it’s part of a brand so isn’t confused with reality. Instead I’m talking about the images that are entirely plausible, or at least seem to be, but are in fact very far from the reality in which they were shot. But if we know this happens then surely that means that we have a part to play in how we consume it?

Just as we all know that the images in the majority of glossy magazines and those plastered across billboards are heavily edited we are also starting to become aware of how this is also the case for images on social media. The skills are no longer the sole property of design studios and professional editors, anyone can do it, if they so wish, and so maybe it’s time that we all start to be a little more aware of what an image may in fact look like before it’s put through multiple editing apps.

Discussing responsibility also throws up the question of whether people should be creating and releasing these heavily doctered images in the first place. Is there a moral argument to say that if you have a large following that you shouldn’t be faking how your body looks? Well yes, but I don’t think that the responsiblity there is soley with creators with a large following. Don’t we all have a responsibility to not be a shitty human and deceive everyone around us? I don’t think your accountability necessarily changes the second your following on social media ticks over a certain milestone. It’s impossible to know where that line is for a start but it also means you’re holding one group of people to a higher account than others when all you’re really saying is don’t lie. I think that’s something that we would all try to do less of, regardless of your Instagram reach.

There’s defintiely an argument to be made that we should be held to account for the content that we release on the internet. If you put out content that promotes a negative body image, insights hate or is discrimatory then you should be held accountable because it isn’t necessary, only leads of feelings of negativity and harms others. However, it isn’t always so simple to ban this content or prevent it from being created in the first place. Of course, as consumers, we can make some influence by blocking and reporting these types of content but ultimately it won’t stop it from being created, certainly not in the short term.

So what can we do? If we know that the content is out there then I think it comes down to us all being aware enough to consume social media responsibly. Think of it like alcohol or sugary foods, it isn’t that these things don’t have a place within our society but we all have a responsibility to consume these things responsibly and in moderation. Why should social media be any different?

I think it starts with taking a step back and being as self-aware as possible. How much time are you honestly spending on social media? How does the content you see genuinely make you feel? I’m not sure there is an optimum amount of time to spend scrolling through social media but my guess is that it is probably below an hour or so each day, so that’s what I’m trying to achieve. Some days it’s higher, some days its lower but generally I’m trying to cut out some of that mindless scrolling - you know the kind first thing in the morning, when you’re in a coffee shop on your own or when you get into bed at night.

It’s also important to remember that the social media you consume should only ever make you feel happy, inspired or educated. It’s easy to assume that your feed does that for you but when you step back and ask yourself whether that’s really true you’ll probably be a little surprised. When I did this I found that a lot of the travel profiles I had once deemed as ‘inspirational’ actually made me feel a bit jealous and shitty. I realised that some of the fashion accounts didn’t actually lead me to create new outfits but instead made me focus on how much I wished my body looked like someone elses. So instead of just leaving it and scrolling past I activly unfollowed. And I continued to do this for every single account that cropped up on my feed and didn’t make me feel good. If it didn’t make me feel happy, didn’t genuinely inspire me creativly or within my life and didn’t teach me something new then it went. Start doing it today and I promise you will notice a difference.

We recently dscussed in an episode of 20s Are Hard how there isn’t one version of the perfectly positive social media feed and you have to work out what it is that makes you feel happiest - for me it’s beautiful clothes, new destinations and dachshund puppies, I’m a woman of simple pleasures! I do think that there are so many accounts that are worth following though and that are working to create a really positive and happy place on the internet for like-minded men and women. If you’re not sure where to start then take a look at The Insecure Girl’s Club, Thought Catalouge, The Happy News Co.

It’s not ideal that there are people putting out heavily falsified content. Whether that’s from the images that you see to the lifestyle they potray. Just because someone has a stunning house, full wardrobe and perfect relationship on the internet doesn’t mean it’s true - it’s a snapshot of someone’s life and we all have to remember that all we do is share the highlights from out week, not the entire thing. What we can control however is more of what we see. If someone is stirring up anything other than happiness and genuine inspiration in you when you see their content just disengage with it. Unfollow, mute, block, whatever it takes to make you feel better, do it. No one else is going to step in and do it for you, it doesn’t take long but it certainly makes you feel better.