FIGHTING SOCIAL MEDIA PRESSURE
As social media eats up into our society, people no longer only seek pressures, pressures now seek people via social media.
Fighting social media pressure is therefore a deliberate fight. The key to fighting off any form of external pressure is first learning to deal with the internal pressure or issues which you have control over. Learning to be proactive keeps you from being reactive to external pressures from social media and related vices.
The first thing to understand is however you react, no one is seeing you, you may find yourself speaking out your frustration but very few people would know the root. You only end up pulling another person’s emotional deficiency and then you apply it to yourself and consequently, your environment when you can be in control.
Asides the person’s emotional deficiency, you may end up pulling your weaknesses over a lie being sufficiently painted by a good camera and borrowed background. This time, you’re only sharpening weaknesses like envy, jealousy etc. Now don’t hate yourself, you should never. This writer and her friends fight envy and jealousy too, these are the hidden “demons” underneath the pressure.
We all want to be comfortable and have the clothes, cars, shoes, books, and life we admire everyday. Being extremely focused on this, there’s no way you will love the life you have. A lot of us need to stop hating our lives, parents, school, family background, work, clothes etc. Pressures are always there, you pressurise someone with your display photograph on social media no matter how silly. The best way to fight this pressure off is to begin by loving yourself and loving your life. You don’t have it all but you have something someone else doesn’t.
So first of all take control of your internal pressures like low self-esteem, jealousy, procrastination, anger etc. If you can handle how you react within you, you can handle the pressure outside.
Next you need to have a focus and maintain it. A lot of people who are constantly logged in are emphatically going through someone else’s wall to see their lives and brood on why theirs isn’t working out right. Awkwardly some of these people in pictures are so busy they employ social media managers, they don’t even read their messages! Everyday, they are working to get a better picture to put up and finally, that’s why you follow them, what are you doing with your life?
As mentioned earlier, this has to be deliberate. Get a focus: a passion, your job, your hobby and read about it, practise it and be the best at it. Time is older than you and owes you nothing, don’t waste it taking reports of someone else’s life except that’s your job. Build your own empire and rule it.
Keep being comfortable in your skin. Low self esteem has been groomed from social media pressure and cyber bullies. You might also think about leaving some unhealthy groups and unfollowing people who aren’t adding to you but making you unfocused. There’s no rule against unfollowing someone that has thousands of followers if the person’s profile isn’t helping you.
Finally, be disciplined. Sometimes, there’s no reason for being online, it’s just an addiction and you can deliberately stop. Set an alarm each day on what time you want to check your mail, messages or timeline. Preferably before you go to bed and after you are out of bed perhaps on your way to work and follow through with it.
The fight against social media pressure can be won. It begins with the decisions you make today.