Why You Should Deep Clean Your Social Media Feed, and How to do so...

We as humans find ourselves enamored by the world of social media and content creation. However, most people don’t realize how much social media feed affects and shapes their lives. Like many other things, the famous saying you are what you eat holds true to social media. You become what you consume. This is why it is so vital to have a social media feed that lifts you up rather than sucks you in, especially if you are like me and spend a lot of downtime on social media.

Positive VS Negative Content Consumption

Have you ever taken a moment to analyze the content you consume? Which accounts do you gravitate towards? Is your feed filled with positive content rather than negative content?

Positive content is when you consume things that make you feel good, content that has purpose. Positive forms of content can educate and inspire. Overall, positive content makes you feel good. It could make you laugh, help you relax, or teach you a new skill. However, you do NOT feel drained when consuming positive content. Notice after you spend some time scrolling, how do you feel? Do you feel good? Energized? Inspired? Or do you feel drained? Anxious? Self-conscious? This is a quick test that will help you assess what kind of content you're consuming. If you answered yes to feeling drained, anxious, or self-conscious, you most likely spend your time consuming negative content, and you need to cleanse your social media feed!

Melissa Butterworth goes in depth about body image and body positivity in her second book, Clues. I believe that most females who struggle with these issues become further escalated by their social media feeds. When you are constantly seeing photoshopped, unauthentic people, it plays a big role in your own body image issues and begins to feel like you need to look a certain way in order to succeed. Especially for our young female following, social media can be detrimental to your mental health depending on what your feed looks like. Take a moment to think about who you follow and how those people make you feel. Are you comparing yourself to them, or are they educating you and creating content that makes you feel good? Remember that comparison is the thief of joy.

Once you deeply think about this question and assess where you are, let's go in and make some changes if you feel they are needed. Let's begin to unfollow those influencers and accounts that make you feel bad and don't really teach you anything.

Congratulations! You took the first step into bettering your mental health, in turn, bettering your success and kickstarting your personal growth journey.

Now if you still have a lot of positive influencers you follow, you may not need to do this next step. But if you feel that you don't consume positive content, follow these next steps to make your social media feed a better place.

Think back to when you were a child. What did you like to watch, do, or create in your free time? Did you play sports? Did you like to watch musicals? Did you enjoy watching DIY videos and trying to recreate them? Take a moment to reminisce on your inner child. Notice what comes up, and follow accounts that create content surrounding your favorite old topics. For me, that was going back and following @5minutehacks, slime accounts, and DIY accounts. I still enjoy watching and creating various crafts. For you, this could look like following a famous lacrosse or basketball player, or an influencer who goes behind the scenes at broadway shows. There's an influencer and account for everything, and finding the accounts that post enjoyable content will make you feel good after spending too much time scrolling.

Overall, social media is supposed to be used in a positive manner. It can be used for so much good, so we want to make sure that you are using social media in a positive way rather than a negative way. You too can reap the amazing benefits social media has to offer, and now you are one step closer!

Make sure to follow @melissacbutterworth on all social media platforms, to start consuming more positive content today!