The Social Struggle is REAL
I’ve been in my head a lot lately. I mean if you know me personally, you could probably argue that I’m in my head most of my life, so nothing really too new there. But lately, it’s been worse. It’s been all revolving around my creativity and my feelings toward social media, specifically Instagram. Something that got me writing / blogging in the first place was that feeling that I don’t want to put ‘all my eggs in one basket’ meaning I don’t want to use only Instagram as a creative outlet, just in case the app creators suddenly decide to make it disappear off the face of the earth one day. Lately, I’ve gotten so in my head about it that it stops me from wanting to be active on it at all. And just quitting is not exactly the best solution for my business and personal growth. Usually, when I’m feeling uneasy about something, I write out a pros and cons list. Hopefully, if you’re going through a social media struggle, this will help you make some more mindful decisions when it comes to all the social apps.
Let’s start with cons. I always want to end with the good.
CONS:
+ The Algorithm + Saturation
This may sound stupid, but yes, it’s hard when you put a lot into your post for only a few of your followers to actually see it. Or maybe, they did see it, and they just don’t find it valuable and don’t interact with it. :( Talk about that damn imposter syndrome creeping in again. Unfortunately, the feelings of ‘it’s not good enough’ and ‘so many people are on here’ and ‘what can I do to stand out or be of value to a follower?” start to flood my mind. And in the end, I don’t feel like sharing at all, which defeats all of Instagram’s initial purpose.
+ The Mindless Scroll
I notice that when I’m not in a good headspace, I just scroll on the app, watch a bunch of people’s stories, and don’t do anything productive. Which, yes, I’m learning that every single open space in the day doesn’t have to be reserved for doing “productive” tasks, and that rest and mindless actions also are seen as productive, but scrolling is just not even worth it in the end. I literally get scrolling fatigue and regret it after. There’s nothing worse than that feeling where you catch yourself watching stories and just think to yourself “wait how did I get back to watching stories”. This is why I usually limit myself to really keep up with 5-10 people, just because no one has the capacity in their brain to consume that much content.
+ The Comparison
Social media can make you feel like 1). you want to be somewhere else, 2) you need more ‘things’ 3) Other people’s home lives superior to yours. Have you ever heard the quote that “Comparison is the thief of joy”? Yep, yep it is. If you ever feel this way, limit the content you consume. And make sure the content you’re consuming is inspirational to YOU.
+ The Toxic People
No matter what you do and how you do it, they’ll be someone that disagrees with you on the other side. ESPECIALLY when it comes to momming. The saddest thing ever is when I see big influencers or bloggers posting about their kids and getting the most hate ever for strangers. Sometimes even reading their comments brings me down. I’m like, “people really think like this?!”
PROS:
+ A Beautiful Creative Outlet
I really do love taking photos and capturing moments of everything from fashion and design to my kiddos, husband, dog, home stuff, etc. It fuels me. Making things look pretty is a little harder with kids now, and it’s not necessarily realistic. (I definitely want to stay real). BUT, I still love creating content and shooting outfits or my kiddos day to day.
+ An Amazing Community
Yes, there can be toxic people, but again, you can control who you follow and interact with. I love that you can easily stay in touch with people that you don’t see all the time because of everyones busy lives. I also have opened up a lot about all things motherhood and postpartum, and it’s amazing the conversations that have come out of it with people I never would have met otherwise. There is really so much support!
+ An Endless Pool of Ideas
Remodeling your house? Trying to figure out what to feed your toddler? Looking for gift ideas? The opportunities to find inspo are endless. Sometimes TOO endless (if that even makes sense). Again, this is why limiting your content intake is important.
+ A Source of Motivation
You best believe if I see a post about working out or someone doing pretty makeup, or doing something that makes them happy, it inspires me to get my ass up and do something good for myself that day. That might be weird to say, but it’s just human nature. I love that social can have this affect on me.
At the end of the day, these social platforms are all that you make them and put into them, right? We know the app or the thing right now is not the ‘end all be all’, and we also all know that everything shown on social isn’t necessarily real. I just really hope to be a support to others and hopefully inspire creativity/share my realities (beautiful moments and not so beautiful moments). And I know I may think too hard about it all, but maybe someone else is thinking all this too and just not saying it?
Let me know your pros + cons of social media! And remember, if you start to doubt social media and how it’s intertwined into your life, remind yourself to do and post what makes YOU happy. Think of why you started in the first place.
xx, Madi