The wonderful world of social media. If you’re a fellow blogger, or just use social media for fun or to pass time, you will understand what I mean. Composing the right tweet. Getting the right Instagram theme (my theme is driving me crazy at the moment!) Promoting your public Snapchat and trying to be interesting as well as just being you (oh hi there, my Snapchat it’s itssbeccajayne by the way *wink, wink.*) But as amazing as social media is, why do I always find myself having to ‘take a break’ from it to calm my anxiety?
I guess me and social media have a love / hate relationship. I love being able to connect with my readers, and other bloggers in general. I love how handy it is when it comes to making plans with friends just by a click of a button, and it is actually one of my most loved hobbies. In the near future, I aspire to go to university to study ‘digital marketing,’ so I guess I’m going to have to have some passion for social media at least.
On the other hand, there are things in which I deeply hate about social media; ‘Facebook’ in particular. I am aware that a lot of other bloggers have touched on this subject, and I couldn’t agree more. Facebook, more than any other social media platform, suffocates me the most. The constant posts about relationships which actually presents toxic behaviour, or those ‘relatable’ posts which just make you question humanity in general. I can’t tell you how many times exactly I have deactivated my Facebook account and that scares me. The fact that I’ve had to delete my account to feel somewhat okay in myself again.
Don’t get me wrong, social media is great. Overall, it is my #1 source for my blog traffic, helps me connect with people worldwide, and helps pass time. Bored? Social media. Making breakfast? Check your social media. Wake up? Check your social media. But sometimes I wish it wasn’t like that. Sometimes my mental health needs those days where I wake up and don’t worry about the whole world being exposed to every tweet I send. Sometimes I don’t need to go on Facebook and feed myself negative thoughts. Sometimes I don’t need to go on Instagram and think ‘why do I look like that?’ or ‘My theme is awful and it’s stressing me out.’ Sometimes your mental health is aching for a break from it all; and if you ever get to that point, give yourself what your body wants.
Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the world of social media, that we neglect ourselves in the process. We fail to see what it is doing to our mental health and we keep self destructing ourselves. I often feel like it’s a dark, misty cloud over me in which I can’t get rid of and feel suffocated in. It doesn’t have to be that way. As amazing as the world of social media is, it often has it’s negatives and separation for a while is sometimes key.
Love and happiness always,
xo, Becca
itsbeccajayne.wordpress.com 
Yes, girl! Couldn’t agree more! I’m currently on an indefinite break from all the above 😉
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I agree with this! I often find myself unhappy after being on social media but struggle to take a break from it! ❤
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Super important post. Social media is like this easy that just keeps churning and eventually sucks out all the energy from you.
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I completely agree with everything you’ve said here. I’ve come off social media several times because it exhausts me so much, but I always feel guilty and end up going back to it. I’m glad that I have very few friends on Facebook friends, and most of the things I see are blogging related, but even that can get exhausting at times. I think there are definitely good sides to social media, but it’s important to remember not to let it take over your life at the same time.
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I couldn’t agree more with this, I feel like I love social media so much but can be so brain washed by it without even realising so a social media break would be really good. Amazing post as always Becca.
-Olivia Xxxx
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Couldn’t agree more! Social media can be really suffocating sometimes! As much as I love it, it makes me really anxious sometimes.
Jas xx
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Definitely agree. Social media has it’s ups and downs, but I think it’s mostly done a lot of good for us. Of course, it always depends upon the balance we choose to have with that and our real lives
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I really enjoyed this post! Social media definitely has its advantages and disadvantages. On some days it feels like the cons outweigh the pros and it’s on those days that I like to take a break from my phone/laptop.
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I love this! Contemplating taking a certificate course in Digital Marketing myself, yet lately I’ve had to log off from Facebook to clear my head of all the noise you mentioned, which makes me question ‘am I doing the right thing?’ Oh well, it’s nice to see fellow bloggers are having the same struggles as well.
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Could not agree with this more. I too find myself feeling suffocated by social media at times, and just need to take a break. It can be demanding, and it can make us feel awful as it presents perfect lives that we believe we don’t have. Even though we know, really, we all show the best sides and brush the negatives under the rug! It’s important to take a break from social media when you feel you need it.
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I have this same struggle with social media. You definitely do need a break from it for your mental health. Thank you for sharing. 🙂
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I feel exactly the same about facebook.. it sends my brain into an absolute meltdown! No more facebook for me.. Instagram can stay, though! (I like a good photo!)
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Yes! Totally agree. I deleted Facebook a few years a go now and I thought I’d miss it but not one bit! All it was doing was making me either sad or angry, not adding anything to my life but taking a lot of time away. I love Instagram and Twitter but sometimes I need to remember to take breaks and live some days social media free. xx
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Can completely relate to this post! I do need breaks from it all sometimes too. Especially because I’m terrible at comparison. Facebook is my least favourite social media platform too BUT I have found some amazing communities on there, it does have its perks. Love and happiness to you ❤️
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See for me the last 12 months on social media have changed my life! I’ve found my voice, grown as a person and made best friends who I know will be here in another 12 months.
I think it’s important to take a break of it upsets you and keep your circle small sometimes, but there can be a lot of positives to come from it! 😁
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Totally agree lovely! I have a love/hate relationship too – I love Instagram and think the community on there is amazing, Facebook seems harder and yes it’s full of people presenting the ‘best side’ of their lives. Sadly as to say blogging relies heavily on social media – it’s just remembering that what you see isn’t necessarily ‘real’ life with some people x
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Can relate to this so much! I’ve loved starting my blog but have to say I feel this constant pressure/worry that keep consistent on social media, and am often comparing myself to others. I hate the way life is portrayed as picture perfect on social media, I often have a well needed break! X
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Can relate to this so much! I’ve loved starting my blog but have to say I feel this constant pressure/worry that keep consistent on social media, and am often comparing myself to others. I hate the way life is portrayed as picture perfect on social media, I often have a well needed break! X
http://www.chloeelle.uk
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I deleted Facebook about 5 years ago, not once have I even been tempted to reactivate it! I feel so much better away from it. I find Twitter/Insta to be good forms of Social Media, but if I’m having a bad day I just tend to be quiet, but still lurk. X
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I have a love/hate relationship with social media. Overall, I’ve learned that each site can be customized based on groups, people, and privacy. Also, each site serves a different purpose and people have their preferences. Not all of my followers are on FB, but I know I need to have a presence there in order to participate in groups and drive people to my site. Twitter is my favorite because I can provide short snippets of information with my followers. I have a more negative experience from my personal accounts than I do with my blog and business accounts.
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I find social media a great way of interacting with people and love being able to get real time news feeds etc, but I really can find it all so overwhelming at times and on one occasion of severe anxiety uninstalled all my social media apps and what’s app. I totally unplugged for 24 hours and really needed it. I have only reinstalled one app each day since and am planning to unplug once a week at least where instead of uninstalling I will mute notifications.
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Totally agree with this xx
Sophie’s Spot
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This was such a beautiful read honestly. So glad your Twitter sent me here! X
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Yes! I couldn’t agree more. I always compare myself to others on social media and it can be very draining! This is a great post!
Robyn // http://www.midnightandlace.co.uk/
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I completely agree. This is a brilliant post and it’s refreshing to read someone writing about something so important. Love it.
Rosie Mauu x
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I’ve gone on social media in the past month due to a range of reasons but I’ve found that my mental health is a lot better and I just schedule a lot of tweets and then go offline (bad I know but otherwise I would probably get no traffic) and I’m feeling a lot better mentally 🙂 worth it! xx
Eleanorclaudie.com
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I really agree with what you said about Facebook, I just feel like people can be so judgmental on there especially when you put so much personal info for all to see. I’ve even had my ex manager having a go at me cus I deleted him from Facebook (not a nice guy incidentally) so I guess I can’t win 😂
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I think if I wasn’t a blogger and social media wasn’t so important for promotion and views I would love to do a detox! But it is super difficult when it’s so important for what we do! x
Lauren | http://www.thelifeofastudentblogger.blog
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I feel the same, I have a total love/hate relation with social media. I hate Facebook now but social media is great for blog traffic!
PaleGirlRambling xo
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Couldn’t agree more with what you’ve said here! Social media can feel so suffocating especially for bloggers, i’ve caught myself feeling so down if my social media isn’t as engaged as i’d like and i have to tell myself not to worry.
It can be hard to juggle it along with all the responsibilities of life too but i always think you have to take the bad with the good, there’s so much social media has done for me.
Really great read, very insightful!
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I couldn’t agree more! Sometimes you need days just to speak to actual people and enjoy life rather than tweeting, trying to take the perfect insta pic and constantly refreshing! Amazing post! – K xx
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I completely agree! Social media just seems to be a normal part of everyday life now and it seems unthinkable to spend time without it despite the fact we could all probs use it! Sometimes it is better to not live behind the lens/screen! Xx
Kirsty | The Monday Project | themondayproject.co.uk
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Girl I was clapping all the way. I have given up on Instagram themes. I’m just going to do me. Phew! The things we do for love. The struggle is real.
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Facebook is definitely toxic when I have too much of it. I have never had much of a social life so I never found reasons to post very often. It seems this year I became more socially conscious. Some of it might be good, like the times I’ve gone on fun outings with my family or friends and I want to share cool photos of us on Facebook so other family members or friends can see them too. The bad might be that I start feel pressure to constantly post and show how cool my life is. I have mixed feelings about it. If I do post something on Facebook, I’m going to turn off the notifications because I’d rather be ignorant about who liked my post or left comments because I don’t want to keep opening the app to check if I hypothetically got a FB notification.
I’m not really active on twitter. There was a time I was and it was sooo exhausting. I think I used it at a time during my life to escape from reality bc I was seriously unhappy with my life. After I came out of it, I ended up unfollowing a ton of people. I don’t even tweet anymore. Now I just sporadically read tweets here and there sometimes.
I don’t really use Instagram either, except to post pics of my embroidery projects. Even with this, I try to do it only sparingly and try hard not to get hung up on how many people liked my photo.
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Totally agree with this. I have a post with a related topic. You might enjoy it.
Do it for the gram! https://lifestyleandmusings.wordpress.com/2017/06/19/do-it-for-the-gram/ via @wordpressdotcom
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