Social Media-Friend or Foe?

Social media is almost inescapable in modern society. Most of us, to varying degrees, participate in the major platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Twitter, and others. While there are many great benefits like staying in touch with friends and family, the connections we can gain through interaction, or what we can learn (for better or worse) by participating in the virtual town square, there are negatives and unknown impacts that we have limited information available. This is especially relevant when it comes to our mental health. 

Is there a magic number of friends that will help us towards a positive self image or improved mental health? I don't think that it is something that can be quantified. The positive or negative impacts are not necessarily going to be tied to our number of friends or followers, but to the quality of our interactions and the ways we choose to engage. Whether or not we experience positive or negative effects from networks like Facebook depends on a variety of factors, like our pre existing mental state, the way we internalize feedback, our level of interaction, the health of our lives outside of social media, and so on. 

It is up to us to protect and educate ourselves and others on how to maintain our mental health within this increasingly virtual world. Take a look at these suggestions by TalkSpace therapist Bisma Anwar, she provides fantastic suggestions like powering down devices, and turning off notifications to improve our relationship with social media. Ultimately, we have a lot to learn when it comes to the impacts of social media on our lives and our mental health in particular. What we do know for sure is that it is a major part of society for the foreseeable future and we must find some level of balance.