Branding is a crucial aspect to any successful business. Nowadays, this is established and reiterated through social media. As public relations professionals, our lives often revolve around social media— be it our personal accounts, or accounts for our clients. But with social media’s tendency to create a toxic atmosphere, it can take a toll on our mental health. So how do we balance managing social media for our livelihood and keeping a healthy, happy mind?
Social media can provide a creative outlet, connections, and education on topics you might not know about, but many studies have also found that heavy use can lead to increased risk for depression, anxiety, loneliness, and even self-harm and thoughts of suicide. This rings especially true in today’s crazy times of uncertainty-- a global pandemic, social rights movements, and political dissidence all plastered on the news and social media, clogging our feeds with negativity and confusion. Knowing your boundaries and being able to identify when social media is taking an effect on your mental health is an important step to finding balance. Here are some tips and tricks to maintaining a sound mind while staying relevant.
Maybe you do social media for your job, or maybe social media is your job. Maybe you spend all day liking, sharing, retweeting, creating, and scheduling posts. There is nothing wrong with that. But if you spend all day working with social media, only to come home and sit on your couch and scroll through your personal feed, it is bound to take a toll at some point. Try to set limits on your social media use. Start out by setting a social media bedtime. Try to avoid late night scrolling by logging off an hour or two before bed. If social media is your entire job, be it your personal brand or for a company, try to dedicate one day a week to very little to no online presence-- not even lurking.
As you scroll through your personal feed, take note of how you feel. Unfollow accounts that stir negative energy inside of you. You might find so-and-so beautiful, but if every time she posts you are thinking “I wish I was more like her,” then maybe it's time to unfollow or mute. Follow accounts that are full of positivity and make you feel uplifted. Whether it’s motivational quotes, religious scripture, beautiful places, or cute animals doing cute things, follow accounts that make you happy and that can bring a bit of joy to you, even on a rough day.
Personal or business, hateful comments are not needed. Feel free to delete comments or block repeat commenters from your post or account. Decide what type of comment is viewed as hateful to your brand. Blocking someone for saying “I had an awful experience with your company,” can be harmful to your branding, whereas blocking someone using 20 swear words directed at the company is okay. If these boundaries aren’t already set into place by you or the company you work for, take the time to sit down with your team and your boss or supervisor to create some.
Taking the time to recognize how things affect you and taking action to have a positive relationship with social media is worth it. Nothing is more important than your mental health. Having a happy, healthy state of mind will have positive effects on not just your personal life, but your work life as well.
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