Mental Health | Social Media & Blogging

May 7, 2019
Mental Health Social Media Issues

I was unsure whether or not to write or even share this post, but typing this up is my way of sharing how I found myself stressed and feeling low because of blogging and social media.

Recently, I have seen on Twitter that many bloggers are struggling on social media platforms like Instagram because of numbers and stats and this is having such a detrimental effect on people’s mental health. This is where I found myself and I lost my way a little with it all, which lead me to to take a break from blogging. I lost my confidence in sharing what I loved and honestly now that I’ve taken the time to reflect, I don’t know why I was so hard on myself. I have pushed aside all the negative factors of using social media. I’m working through my issues of comparing myself to others, not feeling good enough and instead I’m remembering why I first started blogging and the way it made me feel before it became about numbers etc. I have posted previously about the 6 Things I Do To Improve My Mental Health on a daily basis, which I find helps with any situation that effects me mentally. 

Mental Health and Blogging

BLOGGING JOURNEY

June 2019 will be my 6th year of blogging with Beauty Baking Bella and it has overall been a great journey and I truly am proud of myself for still being here and sharing my writing on my little blog. I am so grateful for all the opportuinities I have had and eternally grateful to all those amazing PR’s I’ve had the pleasure to work with.

After all the years of blogging it finally got too much for me, which really negatively affected my mental health. I’ve always been one to doubt myself and my ability to do things. As a private person I have always been reluctant to share personal things on my social media, which is the opposite of what ‘successful bloggers’ do. It seems the more the you share, the more regularly you post and Insta Story, the more you grow and to be honest I can’t compete with that!

I have made some great online friends within the blogging community but even after all these years I still find myself anxious to socialise and stay social online. This is what made me take a step back, giving myself time to reflect on who I am as a blogger and what I wanted from blogging. I knew that I had to change the way I approached blogging and to remind myself what I started blogging for in the first place. 

STRUGGLES AS A BLOGGER

As a blogger some of the struggles I felt were:

All these factors sometimes had an effect on me and and made me feel like giving up.

MOVING ON AS ME AND NOT COMPARING MYSELF

As I write this I actually feel silly for even thinking this way let alone sharing this because why should I care about what anyone thinks? I always preach to others and say “as long as you love your content” or “share what makes you happy” when really I need to be saying this to myself!

I know as much as any blogger or influencer, the power of social media and how it is an essential part of being a successful blogger. But you can find yourself spending hours of your day sitting and liking and commenting on blog posts and instagram photos to engage with others because apparently that is how to grow as a blogger and get yourself out there!!

My goodness, how draining is it to do this day in and day out! Not only can it be draining and time consuming it can be really bring you down and that when it affects your mental health, you start doubting your own content and find yourself comparing to others and not feeling good enough. The anxiety kicks in and feeling like your not good enough because of others, what they are saying and what they are doing. I realised I shouldn’t be looking at them but need to look at myself and use that energy inwards. I struggled with social media because after all the effort I was putting in (because I had read it worked for other bloggers) and all those hours engaging with others just for the sake of engaging I didn’t see my following grow; so you wonder to yourself why do I even bother!!? (Now I’m laughing at myself for reading and listening to all those “how to grow your following posts” and wasting my time!)

This is when I knew I had to change my thought process and focus on me and my mental health! I had to find a way to clear my mind of all the negativity and find my own path again. 

If you do follow me on social media thank you for sticking around 🙂. You may have noticed that I’m nowhere near as active as I used to be. I now look at Instagram once or maybe twice a day. I only upload photos when I want, sometimes going days without sharing new content and honestly, it’s the best thing I ever did! I don’t feel the pressure of needing a routine and this time allows me to focus on myself, my family and most importantly, my life away from social media.

We all seem to focus our lives around Social Media, when we go out, we think about what content we can shoot or what time we need to upload a photo to the gram. We seem to compare our lives to what we see on Instagram, which 99% of the time is all staged and edited to look like a dream world that we secretly long for. In reality we should be creating a realistic and happy life away from the false world seen on social media and loving and accepting our lives and the people in it. By focusing on yourself and real life you can decide for yourself what your dreams and ambitions are and follow them by doing you and achieving what you want and not what someone else has done on Instagram/Twitter!

Positive Mental Health Quote

HOW I HELP MYSELF & MY MENTAL HEALTH WHEN USING SOCIAL MEDIA NOW

So of course I had to do something about the way that I was feeling. So here is list of all the things I now do if I’m feeling any of the above because honestly, there is more to life than social media and statistics!

  1. First and formost a break from social media is always a good idea to forget the numbers, the engagement and socialising. It is important to have some time out! Delete the apps and after a few days you won’t even go to check your phone. DO IT because it really does help!
  2. Focus on your own content first. Create and capture photos and write blog posts that mean something to you and that you love. If inspiration doesn’t hit straight away give it time, get back to real life and when it comes you will know!
  3. Limit your time on social media and set yourself a time limit. If you don’t want to take time out then consider limiting your time on your phone. You can actually do this on your phone in settings/app and it is a great way to ensure you are not sitting on social media and feeling sorry for yourself all day long! 
  4. Have a good old clear out of your following list, only follow those that inspire you, or who engage with you and your content and are supportive. Social media can be a positive environment, it is what you make it!
  5. Remove any ghost followers (there are many apps to help with this). Unfollow and block these and remove any inactive followers too. I found that this helped with my engagement and reach just by doing this (just a little encouragment if you do want to occasionally glance at your numbers!)
  6. Don’t look at your numbers if you can help it. Of course we all like to see a post or photo we have worked hard on do well, but remember that you love your content and that is the most important thing, and that anything else is just a bonus.
  7. Now that you have had a good clear out of followers and your following, you can engage with whoever you like, whenever you like. Keeping your Instagram a positive space will make it easier to use as a social media platform, especially when using it for your blog. 
  8. In terms of family and friends, I’ve learnt not to let this bother me anymore, it’s funny when you see them supporting celebrities and their achievements yet they can’t be bothered to show you support and read, share or like your content. Now that I’m getting older I know who and whom I want to share my achievements with and for those handful of people in my life that support me, I am eternally grateful for their love and this is what I remember when I start to feel low.

 

TAKE A BREAK – IT REALLY HELPS

I do believe that a time out time from social media is the best thing for anyone and taking a break from time to time is a great way to regenerate. By doing so I’ve learnt to appreciate my own work and share what I love and love myself for turing the negativity of blogging and social media into a place where I can be happy again. 

If you got this far then thank you for reading. I hope by sharing how I have felt with social media and my blog, I have been able to inspire and spread the positives of social media. Taking back control of our mental health when using social media and when blogging is the best thing you can do for yourself as a blogger.

If you are a blogger and have had your struggles, please let me know and share what steps you took to make your blogging journey a positive and safe place for you and your mental health.

Until next time,

Pinar xo

7 responses to “Mental Health | Social Media & Blogging”

  1. Emily says:

    Lovely post Pinar.
    I wrote a very similar one myself a few weeks back.
    Blogging/social media is so competitive and other bloggers are not nice. Lol.
    I don’t socialise with any for the fear of the judgement of their input into what I am doing wrong.
    Keep doing the things you enjoy!
    Emily xx

  2. Emily says:

    P.s. your new theme is beautiful!!
    I love the olive tones xx

  3. Melis Living says:

    This is such a well written post and I couldn’t have read it at a better time. I’m really considering a social media break for a month or so. I worry how it will impact my blog views but if I take a step back and think about it, my blog is not my career and I’m about to start a full time job in a new career anyway. So it really shouldn’t matter if views drop when it is essentially my hobby! Thanks for sharing your advice, it’s really helpful.
    Melis x

  4. Jo says:

    This is great. I often find myself focusing on the numbers on social media and it can make you feel down so easily. I always make sure my #1 concentration is putting content on my blog and everything else I do as I have time so I don’t drain myself mentally.

  5. Paris says:

    This really resonated with me. I have had multiple breaks from social media and from blogging in a bid to find out what kind of blogger I want to be and to take a break from comparing myself to others online. Thank you for sharing 🙂

  6. Jenny says:

    What a lovely post, and I love the tips you shared. I’ve been cleaning out my following lately as well, and was shocked to see how many people I actively support/comment that never return the favor 🙁 Also totally relate on the family/friends supporting celebrities but not you bit. But yes, I’m choosing to focus on those that do support me, and honestly I feel much better when I try to look at the positives!

    Jenny // Geeky Posh

  7. jade bevan says:

    i am in love with your blog!!! its stunning <3 thanks for sharing this post! its soooo great to talk about <3

    Jadieegosh   Instagram FacebookBloggerGroup

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Pinar Rawlins

UK beauty and lifestyle blogger
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