Social media is a HUGE part of most of our lives in 2022. Love it or loathe it, it’s not going away and it’s only going to get more ingrained in our day-to-day lives. Navigating this relatively new world can be hard and throw us off-balance and I think it’s so important to have a healthy social media relationship.

Part of my life as a blogger, makeup artist and content creator is to be present online and have various social media to promote what I do, give information to those who want it and of course, earn money. I joined twitter maybe 12 years ago to promote my work as a makeup artist and connect with other’s in the community. Since even them, social media has changed DRAMATICALLY : ‘Influencer’ wasn’t even a term and I don’t think Instagram was even a thing?!

Now, most of us rely heavily on social media every single day whether it be for promoting what we do, connecting with a community we love, work, social, just for fun, keeping up with the news or anything in between. With this, comes some incredible things : I have met some amazing friends online through my makeup and beauty community, and honestly it’s so important to have a few friends around you who understand what you do.

On the flip side, social media can of course be very detrimental to your mental health and happiness. It’s a constant battle of trying to balance being present on social media, putting out content, keeping yourself sane, staying present in the ‘real world’, keeping yourself away from things that make you feel shit and away from those toxic people.

5 tips to stay social media happy!

1.) Follow those who inspire you and bring you joy.

This is paramount. Sounds easy than it is. But Something you MUST do to protect yourself and keep your space positive and leaves you feeling good about yourself. I’ve been in a place where I stay ‘following’ people I don’t want to simply because I know they will ‘kick off’, bitch about me and it just saves trouble to stay following right? NOPE. The answer is already there….if you are scared of unfollowing or removing people from your social media because of how they will react to you they are clearly toxic AF. You shouldn’t feel forced to have people around you who you don’t want. GET BLOODY RID. I recently had a clear-out and honestly you should check-in and do this a few times a year. I am also aware of people who watch/ follow me but bring nothing except wanting to know gossip or drama over checking in with you when times are clearly shit. No one needs this! They don’t, you don’t. 

It may be YOU and not them (classic break-up line, right?) but they could be a lovely person, but seeing something they share or what they do may be triggering to you for whatever reason, and you have every right to remove this from your space. I have restricted and controlled what I see online – in terms of tweets (you can mute words), instagram stories and what pops up on my feeds. I personally want to see people who inspire me, make me smile, funny things, memes, gorgeous makeup, new launches, cute animals, beautiful destinations and my friends.

2.) Restrict your time.

Of course, this depends on your job but I think it’s very interesting to see your screen time reports and how much tie you are spending where and when. sometimes I am SHOCKED. It can be such a waste of time to endlessly scroll and check-in ‘just in case’ you are missing something. I used to spend in excess of 8 hours a day on social media : of course some if it is necessary because it’s what I do for a job but a huge portion of that is scrolling and wasting time. 

3.) Have a Break!

This can be so good for the soul! I had a social media break a few weeks ago : kind of unplanned, didn’t know how long for but it ended up being maybe 2 weeks and it was good just to step away, re-asses and just work out why I was feeling so shit about it all. It can just be all-consuming and you step too far away from your day-to-day reality and I think it’s good to just be more aware and present in the little things : getting outside, eating things you love, time spent with loved ones and just time alone, doing something you love that isn’t iPhone-related.

4.) Memes.

That’s it. We all need memes to keep us going. Always @DJFATTONY on insta. 

5.) Engage!

Stop scrolling mindlessly but stop and engage – comment, leave a like, interact with stories, reply to a tweet. It’s nice to be social on social media and more often than not, those people will engage with your feeds and it becomes a more active and energetic (& fun!) place to be. It feels nice to have a little community of people around you and I find when you chat and interact with like-minded people it make everything more enjoyable and it can really inspire you.

So I hope you found these tips helpful and it gives you the push you need to make your social media space a more enjoyable one. No one wants to log on first thing in the morning and come off feeling like crap by 9am. It’s in your control!

Please leave any tips and tricks you have picked up that helps your social media time more positive.