Don’t Get Dragged Into The Social Media Wasteland

Fear of missing out — popularly known as FOMO. It’s a feeling that can propel us to achieve more, and it’s a feeling that can drown us in despair. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter can fuel FOMO by making it seem as though everyone is leading more interesting lives than we are. Meanwhile, some social media users turn into “keyboard warriors,” sending off nasty screeds and even bullying and harassing others online.

You may have opened a social media account in the hope of keeping in touch with far-flung family and friends or promoting your business. But the barrage of political opinions, memes that often contain false information and the demonization of “others” is irritating and even depressing. And seeing images of other people’s perfect-looking homes, parties and vacations can trigger FOMO.

So how can you enjoy the good things about social media without letting it destroy your mental health? 

Rasto Ivanic is a cofounder and CEO of GroupSolver, a market research technology company, which conducted a survey on the impact of social media on mental health. GroupSolver published a blog post about the results of the survey, “Are We Connected or Isolated? How Social Media Impacts Our Mental Health.” 

The results show that some social media platforms impact mental health more than others do, with Facebook having the largest impact, followed by Instagram. Twitter was found to be home to more arguments than other platforms. The survey results also provided insights as to why this is as well as whether the overall impacts on users’ mental health are positive or negative.

The biggest reason social media impacts its users’ mental health is FOMO, Ivanic told InsuranceNewsNet. “A lot of people responded to our survey and said watching other people have what they perceive as a better life than they have affected their mental health. And there’s the aspect of appearance. People tend to see unrealistic beauty standards, those types of things. And there’s a lot of comparison among themselves about their way of life and their appearance in general.”

Despite FOMO and negativity on social media, survey respondents found many positives about participating on various platforms, Ivanic said. 

“Social media is a place where people can find resources and communities, where they can relate and connect with others. That is especially important in these times, when it has been difficult to see people in person.”

But bullying and harassing are part of social media’s dark side, and Ivanic said this has a negative impact on users’ mental health. 

“Social media has become an outlet for people to say inappropriate things,” he said. “The reason why this impacts our mental health so much is that you perceive you are limited in taking action to defend yourself or correct the action taken against you. Even though you can report this to whoever is in charge of the platform, what we find is that people don’t trust the system or they’ve tried to report bad behavior but nothing happens. When you have someone bullying you on social media and nothing is done about it, you can imagine what that does to your mental health.”

Those who have had enough of negativity and bullying on social media may think the solution is to stop using the platform altogether, but that presents another dilemma, Ivanic said. 

“If you continue to use social media, you risk getting beat up from time to time. But with so many interactions happening on social media today, if you completely take yourself out of it, you’re no longer connected to your community, and that’s essentially a punishment. So you face two choices, and neither one of them is good.”

Ivanic said he notices that the more time people spend communicating online instead of in real life, the more likely it is that misunderstandings spiral out of control. 

“When somebody says something you don’t like or that has a negative effect on you, the buffer between you and that person is much thinner online than it is in real life. So it’s easy to cross the line. I’ve seen more tension and misunderstanding between people online than there would be if they were in person. If they were in person, they normally would have resolved the issue in a matter of 10 minutes or over lunch. But instead it boils over into a much bigger conflict online. And typically, because it’s in public view, the other people who are watching them are affected by it too.”

How do you use social media in a mentally healthy way? Ivanic said one key is by using critical thinking skills.

“We need to be the editors of the information we receive,” he said. “I think social media is so exciting because things happen fast, you see amazing images and connect with people you are interested in, and you want to feel good about it all. But sometimes we forget to think for ourselves. What is real? What is true? Is someone using social media to advertise to you? And don’t go off on everything you read. Don’t let yourself be triggered.”

Susan Rupe is editor in chief, magazine, for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at susan.rupe@innfeedback.com.