Social media is a huge topic that everyone loves to talk about. It’s controversial in a way as it definitely has pros and cons. In this post, I want to focus on the reasons why social media was made in the first place. As well as rethinking your decisions as to why you put yourself out there. Everyone’s story is different and today I’ll share mine.

Social Media: For Yourself Or For Others?

A lot of people I know will constantly stress about what to post and think about what other people will want to see. It is human nature to want to impress others, but doing it to a point it makes your mental health deteriorate so that you become unhappy, is it really that important? If any of these reasons apply to you, then I suggest you rethink. Realise what you want out of social media. An example for me as a bookstagrammer, I sometimes feel the need to try and post about the latest books. Sometimes I felt guilty for not reading as much as I should have. But I know my limits and if I feel happy reading only a few books a month and posting old favourites then that’s fine. It’s your account and you get to control what you post on there, not anyone else.

My reasoning to be on social media are all positives. I love seeing other peoples posts that are happy and uplifting because more often then not they inspire mine. It’s an amazing feeling to be a part of a community, knowing that your post might be able to impact them. I love knowing that my followers want to follow me because they like the content I produce, they like my real authentic self and who knows, perhaps I inspire them as others do to me! I’m on social media for myself. I don’t want to use it as a negative space in my life and care too much about likes and follows. And it shouldn’t be like that for you too.

Hard To Let Go Of Pressure

It’s such a struggle when a picture never goes to plan. I’m never in the best of moods too. I know that if I’m not a fan of the picture I took there’s no point in posting it. Why? If I don’t feel happy about it and love it as much as my other posts, why would my followers like it? Of course, a lot of the time the picture is nice but I’m too judgmental of myself to see it. But if your platform is positive then your followers will be too, there really shouldn’t be room for any judging, no matter the shape or size.

You should not feel pressured to post, pressured to keep up with a pretense, it’s fine to take a break. Looking after yourself matters more then a couple of likes. I try to post everyday on Instagram, often that doesn’t go to plan. A lot of the time I feel guilty, but I shouldn’t hold expectations that high. Life doesn’t go to plan, so you simply gotta move forward with your head held high.

But in the end, it is ultimately up to you! I choose to see social media as a good space where we can all share content with the world. You might chose to do the same, but you could end up posting content that’s not you and isn’t right. Whatever you may do, the only thing I’d want is for you to look after yourself and never push yourself too hard. Be patient and look after your mental health. If you want some tips about mental health, I did a post about awareness offering my tips and thoughts on the topic.

I hope this post was a little insightful for you all! I have so many thoughts on this topic, especially from the eyes of a blogger and bookstagrammer. I’d love to know your thoughts on this post and if you have any tips or questions to add!