When reviewing others’ social activity, people tend to make comparisons such as, “Did I get as many likes as someone else?,” or “Why didn’t this person like my post, but this other person did?” They’re searching for validation on the internet that serves as a replacement for meaningful connection they might otherwise make in real life.
FOMO—fear of missing out—also plays a role. If everyone else is using social media sites, and if someone doesn’t join in, there’s concern that they’ll miss jokes, connections, or invitations. Missing experiences can create anxiety and depression. When people look online and see they’re excluded from an activity, it can affect thoughts and feelings, and can affect them physically.
A 2018 British study tied social media use to decreased, disrupted, and delayed sleep, which is associated with depression, memory loss, and poor academic performance. Social media use can affect users’ physical health even more directly. Researchers know the connection between the mind and the gut can turn anxiety and depression into nausea, headaches, muscle tension, and tremors.
The earlier teens start using social media, the greater impact the platforms have on mental health. This is especially true for females. While teen males tend to express aggression physically, females do so relationally by excluding others and sharing hurtful comments. Social media increases the opportunity for such harmful interactions.
In addition to providing young people with a window through which they can view missed experiences, social media puts a distorted lens on appearances and reality. Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat increase the likelihood of seeing unrealistic, filtered photos at a time when teen bodies are changing.
In the past, teens read magazines that contained altered photos of models. Now, these images are one thumb-scroll away at any given time. Apps that provide the user with airbrushing, teeth whitening, and more filters are easy to find and easier to use. It’s not only celebrities who look perfect—it’s everyone.
When there’s a filter applied to the digital world, it can be hard for teens to tell what’s real and what isn’t, which comes at a difficult time for them physically and emotionally.
This “social comparison” factor takes many forms online that can negatively affect users of social media. To compensate for the natural tendency to compare themselves with the people they interact with online, young people need to remind themselves that social media makes people and things look better and more attractive than they are in real life.
This is why I’m moving away from Instagram and shifting my main platform to be on my website - I plan on using social media as a strategic tool so I can spend less time on it which I’ve already been practicing and I have been so much happier, less worried, less anxious, less crippled by this little app.
I plan on spending my time that I would have been spending on instagram - cultivating deeper connections with friends + family, reading more books, going on more hikes, planning big things for my practice and devoting more play time with my dogs.
I hope this message resonated well with you. I simply want you to become aware of the matrix we have created for ourselves… as easily as we created for it for ourselves, we can create a different vortex for ourselves too - cultivating real human connection like we once used to.
If you enjoyed this episode, please don’t forget to leave me a 5 star review or rating as it helps the podcast so much! Until next time.

Instagram 
Join The Nourished Method 
VIP waitlist