7 Steps to Finding Peace on Social Media

If you know me you know I strongly dislike social media. What was intended to be something to help us connect with new people and strengthen our relationships, turned into a hotbed for scammers, media bias, fearmongering and more. But I digress, my true issue with social media came when filters arrived, making everyone look flawlessly airbrushed. Well, those filters did their job so well, doubling my likes and getting more engagement than I ever had before. I begin to want to look like that in real life. Not just because I wanted to look beautiful. I grew worried people would begin to call me out online. Especially, being single, I didn’t want any guy I went on a date with to show up and say, “Oh, you look nothing like your pictures.”

So, I convinced myself to avoid using filters. I ended up leaving Snapchat entirely, and on Instagram I found myself needing to follow people who over airbrushed their photos.

Although extremely beautiful, they were making me want to use filters again. I started to wonder if anyone even posted regular pictures anymore? So I intentionally started looking for models who appeared more comfortable with their flaws, and embraced them, or didn’t mind showing them sometimes. I also found models who were a bit older. I figured it was best to watch the trends of people in my age group rather than those that were almost half my age. 

I did all of this not to hurt anyone else, but to help myself be confident in the skin I was born in.

“I intentionally started looking for models who appeared more comfortable with their flaws, and embraced them, or didn’t mind showing them sometimes — not to hurt anyone else, but to help myself be confident in the skin I was born in.”

— Tashiyanna Noel

Follow these 7 steps to cleanse your social feed and START protecting your inner peace today!

1. Delete past photos to avoid “remember when” moments that social media force on you. 

2. Remove or mute accounts that prompt negative self-talk or insecurities.

3. Turn off push notifications to minimize stress and anxiety, click settings inside your phone, click Instagram > notifications and turn off “allow notifications”.

4. Click settings > privacy > interactions and add to your list of hidden words.

5. Limit unwanted interactions. Turn on “Limits” inside privacy > interactions. 

6. Hide like and view counts to avoid comparisons.

7. Mute accounts and stories that may be posting triggering content but you don’t want to unfollow.

I understand we can’t always block and delete, especially coworkers and family members. So, if you find you have a few “negative Nancies” insisting on being critical of what you post to your social media page, use this free worksheet to practice how to respond to negative criticism/feedback on and off the web.