CAN SOCIAL MEDIA STEAL YOUR JOY?
Social media can be an incredible experience. It can help connect us with people that we rarely see or get to know each other better than we ever have before. Social media can help us see what each other's lives are like and what we each value. Or does it?
Is social media stealing your joy?
Social media has become an important part of many of our lives today. Have our lives become better because of social media? Or has social media taken our lives hostage? Does your presence on social media bring you joy? Or is social media leaving you wondering if your life would be better without it? To be honest social media is not the problem entirely. I believe the problem is often our addiction to using social media obsessively or our inability to leave social media and be present in our actual lives.
Is what you see on social media real?
Much of what you see online is quite frankly not a good representation of real life. What we share on social media is usually not representative of our actual lives. We might share a glimpse of the real thing but most do not share the true struggles and trials of their life. Why? Because most people still value privacy, guard their true feelings, and only share what they want you to see.
Articles on the effects of social media on our lives
I thought I would include a few articles regarding the effects of social media that you might find interesting. I hope that you can in some way use this knowledge to increase your joy in life. You deserve a more joyful life. You can take your life back today by managing your social media usage and discovering the benefits of doing so.
Social media is harmful to your brain and relationships - Psychology today
Does social media steal your joy? An article I wrote on Saving Joyfully about my own experience with social media
Avoiding depression induced by social media Psychology today
Social media use and self-esteem - New York behavioral health
Social media makes people feel unhappy and less popular - Business Standard
Social media and its effect on our lives
How does this affect us to see this daily in our feeds on social media? For some of us, it’s confusing. It leaves us believing that what we are seeing is in fact reality. Many do share maybe more than they should. I have honestly been guilty of this from time to time. However most share what they want you to see a snapshot of a perfect life for all to admire. What does this do when we are left with just a glimpse of these perfect lifestyles and only half knowing those we are connected to?
The negative effects of social media on our lives
Social media can decrease our joy
It can make us ungrateful for our blessings
Can waste our precious time if we allow it to
Lead to disagreements based on misinterpretations or hurtful words
Make us less successful in life by distracting us from important goals
Take time from those we love
My experience with social media’s negative effects
Decreased Joy
Social media can decrease our joy in various ways. Many of these ways involve comparing yourself to others, a false sense of belonging, and forgetting to stop and think before you say things that can damage your reputation. I am someone who believes in loving one another and treating everyone with equal respect despite their beliefs and values. I am not seeing this same mentality and behavior among a lot of people on social media. These are critically important things to remember in pursuing a joyful life. Love others as yourself and treat others as you would want to be treated. This means to we should all treat others the way we would want to be treated and with kindness and respect despite race, sex, religion, occupation, or beliefs. God did not call us to love those who agree with us or love us but told us to quite simply “love one another.”
Can social media make us discontent?
Social media is often a great reminder of what we do not have in our lives. It can be a reminder of your lack of success in life, lack of friends and relationships, or lack of money and material things. Allowing yourself to reflect on these things in your life can often make you ungrateful which can hurt you emotionally. Living with an attitude of gratitude can help you to attain joy that many others never will. It’s not magic it’s the act of being grateful that causes us to realize how good our life is.
Social media can waste our time
we all know this reality pretty well. If you do not set a limit on social media usage you often find yourself feeling short on time and behind on everything. You might not realize the amount of time spent each day on social media until this happens. Many people never realize that this is the true reason for their lack of time. They feel like a few minutes on social media here and there is nothing. In reality, the distraction factor of using social media can be longer-lasting than those few minutes.
Disagreements on social media
we all disagree from time to time. We all have differing beliefs, values, and priorities. None of this makes us good or bad necessarily just different. Different is beautiful it is what makes us human. God loves our differences in race, culture, occupations, and personalities. He created us this way for a reason. This is what I believe. This is why I believe that every person's life is precious and everyone is loved deeply by God.
Make us less successful in life
social media is a distraction that can lead to decreased productivity. When we are less productive we are less successful. Success means different things in many people's lives. For me, social media is a distraction from the most important things in my life such as my friends, and family, and creating content for my website. I have listened to many bloggers who have become successful in blogging discussing the pros and cons of social media. Many of these people have advised that social media can easily become a distraction from creating content and can hold you back. This has become a reality in my own life.
Time away from those we love
Last June I had my daughter Jasmine. She is quickly approaching a year old and one of the cautions that I have heard from many is how fast they grow. One year has flown by and I believe what they have cautioned me on is true. My husband, daughter, friends, and family deserve my presence more than anyone. So in recognizing all of these things I have decided to step back more from using social media for a while.
Is social media usage completely negative?
Social media can be an awesome tool for staying connected with friends and family. It can be a great way to meet others, especially as a blogger, and make connections and network. The benefits of using social media are obvious to those of us who love using it. The negative effects though of spending too much time on social media though are important to recognize.
My choices regarding social media in my life
For now, I have deleted all Apps for social media Apps. I will only access the website during specific time frames. I realize that having the Apps on my device has made it entirely too distracting.
Set a schedule for my blog social media usage
I will continue to share content that I love from other bloggers on social media
Will still be reachable via private message and yet might be slower to respond
My goal with this is to simplify my life, increase joy, decrease stress, find more time for family, friends, and content creation
This post is dedicated to my best friend Andrea. She has quite wisely helped me to realize that social media has become a major stressor in my life. My friend helped me to realize that using social media can still be done without allowing it to steal my joy. My focus when using it will be managing my use wisely and prioritizing my time so that it cannot control my life.
