How To Deal With Social Media Anxiety

If you're one of the few people who find yourself nervous and anxious at the thought of conforming to the pressures of social media here we come with few ideas and tips as to how to deal with it

Whether it's thumbing through your friends profile picture or scrolling down your social media timelines, you've found yourself- at times, most times or all the time feeling anxious, low or even defeated by the pressure of conformity. Social media has become the new arena of personal interaction, and for some of us, it forms the only social interaction we have, in a day.

Barring all the amazing arguments that have been made in favour of the space that the social network is, there is also the fact social media induced anxiety is begin a bit of a difficult issue in many of our lives. Here is a simple check list of all that you need to keep in mind, to beat social media anxiety.

Keep selfies to a minimum

Yes, you read that right. We love to show off when we look our best, and often, it can be a difficult thing to find someone around you to ambush to take a picture of you. However, selfies are an activity in pursuit of narcissism. Unless it is for that one big group photo and you don't want anyone out of the frame even to hold the camera, and you don't have a tripod to hold your phone.

Selfies create a certain kind of pressure on your body image and dress sense. They need to shoot your best angle, the need to reflect right under the light, and the need to contort yourself into a form that looks nothing like you can all be tremendously difficult to hold onto. There was once a student who committed suicide for not getting their selfies right not that's a dangerous thing to chase!

Act, instead of posting

True, social media allows you to own an account and all that is within it is your space. True, that means you get the freedom to articulate whatever and however you want. However, constantly posting and making statements whether it is s mountain out of a molehill or a self aggrandising post is best avoided.

Instead, get off and do something about the issue that troubles you. Instead of merely liking that post about a little girl going to scoop in Sudan, find a child around you that has been deprived of education and volunteer or teach, or even fund her , if you can.

Post only when necessary

Do you have something important to say? Is it something you are not merely adding to that's already been said? It is a good idea to post content only when it is necessary rather than to chase after relevance by having something to say about everything. It is a good idea to learn and to imbibe and pay it forward, but it can be both, demanding on you and annoying for others when you constantly post.

Always check facts

Sometimes, we are misled by posts that we see online and such misconceptions can add to our negativity and anxiety.

It is a good idea to spend sometime to verify a given piece of information before acting on it or sharing it, and to ensure that our responses are always well informed. One can always rely on other sources on the internet, or collate a piece of information with other news outlets offline.

It is important to remember that not everything you read on the internet is perfectly true or real, much less posed with good intent. Verification and factual authentication can go a long way in keeping your peace of mind.

Take others posts with a pinch of salt. Remember, people are all working to put up theirs best sides on social media. You may see smiling, cheerful faces celebrating, or you may see couples promising each other that they love each other to the moon and back, but what you don't see are what they don't show you.

Social media anxiety cuts across ages, classes and every imaginable form of social stratification.