The Unspoken Pressures: Navigating Social Media.

Teens, as the world advances in technology, distant places become closer.

Social media allows us to see the nature of events in different countries and helps us reflect on how our lives are going.

This gets overwhelming, more often than it should be.

Teenagers today face pressures from more areas of their lives than teenagers generations ago used to face – more than necessary.

You now have pressure from social media, and are searching for your identity, in addition to academic pressure and pressure from home.

Now you want to be like the next teenager you see online, you also want to have your life figured out because you know how important it is. You’ve seen a fellow 17-year-old who has already started a successful business, and it gets you thinking and stressing about your life.

But you also need to know that sometimes, you just need to relax and take things one step at a time and trust in God’s timing.

That is easier said than done, so let’s explore coping mechanisms you can apply in this crucial stage of your life when it comes to your social media usage 

Coping Mechanisms for Dealing with Unspoken Pressures from Social Media.

1. Set boundaries.
2. Curate your feed.
3. Practice mindful use 
4. Recognise the highlight reel.
5. Take breaks.
6. Turn off notifications.
7. Privacy setting.

Now, let’s explore these coping mechanisms in-depth.

1. Set boundaries: one thing you should know about social media is how unfiltered it is. It doesn’t matter what your preferences are, the algorithm will feed you what it thinks is right for you. 

But you have control over that. You can set boundaries on your social media use by being intentional about who you follow and what you search for there. 

Also, feel free to use the block, mute, and unfollow buttons, as required; this will help you establish your control over what you see online.

2. Curate your feed: your “ideal FYP” doesn’t get created overnight, it is built over time – sometimes spanning years – through deliberate content consumption. 

So take care to constantly search for topics of relevance and interact with role models or accounts who create the content you feel most confident consuming. 

For example, if you’re trying to get more content about self-improvement on your feed, then type “self-improvement tips” in your search bar on your social media account. 

Go on to spend some time interacting and engaging with relevant content and following related creators in that niche. Do this repeatedly for other topics of interest that you have and watch your social media feed blossom into a beautiful garden of helpful and healthy content for consumption.

3. Practice mindful use: here’s a quick question; how many hours do you spend daily on average on social media?

Be honest with yourself about the answer and ask yourself if that’s a responsible amount of time to use on social media.

While deliberately curating your feed is key, it’s important to be careful about how many hours you spend on social media.

Sometimes, overconsumption of content is not healthy. One way you can curb this is by setting time limits on your social media apps.

This sounds like a tough and maybe extreme measure, but remember that your life is in your hands and little habits like these determine the trajectory your life will take.

4. Recognise the highlight reel: nobody ever posts every detail of their life on social media. 

As a social media user, you will see so many aesthetic lifestyles which might make you go “God when?” forgetting that behind every great content is countless hours of content planning and editing and content planning.

Don’t be consumed by this.

While you spend time on social media, remind yourself that most of the content you see is highlight reels. People only post the pleasing aspects of their lives, they don’t post every detail. Take that to heart and remind yourself that you’re on your journey and that you’re doing well.

5. Take breaks: in other words, do a social media cleanse, detox, and unplug every once in a while.

Remind yourself that your life is waiting for you to live it, so every so often, go outside and touch grass. 

Drop your phone and reconnect with reality. 

This habit is essential for your mental health, and it helps protect you from unnecessary pressure.

So when the app timer is up, pick up a book, break out your creativity set, build a new skill and take time to work at building the life of your dreams, even if it’s a model of what you see on social media.

6. Turn off notifications: out of sight is out of mind on this. Turning off social media app notifications puts you in a convenient position to be free from distractions.

So head over to your phone settings and turn off your app notifications. This way you’re sure to stay focused on your upskilling and prevent excessive usage of social media.

7. Privacy settings: make a conscious effort to protect your profile and eyes on social media.

You might want to set your profile to private, so that you can determine who follows you on social media. You might also want to limit what type of content you see on your feed.

All these can be done on your settings. You have the power in your hands, use it wisely.

Now that you have an understanding of managing social media pressures, it’s time to take conscious steps to manage these pressures. Apply everything as listed in this article in your daily life, and don’t forget to set goals for your social media usage.

Remember, your phone is yours, your social media account is yours, you have the power to control what you do with both and what you see on both – use it wisely.

We’ll be exploring how to manage academic pressure in our next newsletter, keep an eye out for our next post and subscribe so you don’t miss when it drops.

If this article resonated with you, share it with your friends who could use this reminder.