Self-esteem is the set of beliefs and feelings we have towards ourselves, and that is built from the experiences we live and the information we receive, both from the people around us and also from how we value ourselves. That is, how we talk to ourselves will affect our thoughts and also the way we will act in the situations we encounter throughout the day.
They have become the medium in which we interact, several hours a day, if not a large part of the day, and, consequently, this interaction will have an impact on our self-esteem. The impact of social networks can be negative or positive, depending on the way we use them If we know how to use them well, their impact can be very positive in our lives.
I will describe with some examples how they are affecting us negatively. How many times has it happened to you that you haven’t had a good day. You argued with your partner, your boss called you out at work, you lost patience with your children. And at the end of the day, you come home exhausted and decide to go on a social network to distract yourself, and when you do, the first thing you find is a video of a person saying that he has found the job of his dreams, that you just have to put your mind to it, and a couple who is traveling having a romantic dinner and they publish the photo of this.
And then you, after your bad day, think: I’m doing something wrong because they can have this life and I can’t. You start to compare yourself, become demotivated and feel less Another example, the filters that leave us with faces without imperfections and these retouched photos. And you want to achieve that body and that face and you will never achieve it no matter how much diet or exercise you do because those bodies and those faces are not real.
It also happens sometimes that we enter a social network and when we realize we have wasted a lot of time looking at a thousand things and we stop doing things. We had, that begins to generate a lot of guilt in us that also negatively influences our self-esteem.
Behind the screens there are people, with different stories, insecurities and ages In this sense, we must be very careful with adolescents and pre-adolescents, they are in a critical stage where they are forming their self-esteem and their environment influences them more easily. But as I said before, adults also have our insecurities and circumstances and if we are in a delicate moment in life, social networks can affect us in a very negative way.
How do they impact our self-esteem?
Being constantly in contact with this “virtual reality” generates an accumulation of negative emotions that are associated with thoughts of the same nature, which guide the person’s behavior on a daily basis and can fill them with insecurities, having consequences on the person’s self-esteem.
But all is not lost, self-esteem is something that we have learned and that can be modified and improved. We are not born with a certain self-esteem and this remains unchanged over time, no. Our self-esteem varies depending on the situations we face in life, how those around us speak to us and how we speak to ourselves, and all of the above changes throughout life. This means that we can work on it and improve it every day. Just like we train our body in the gym, we can train our self-esteem too.
Besides, Social networks can also help us improve our self-esteem, in what way? Consuming content that inspires us and helps us be better In the following points I explain it better:
Delete all those accounts that don’t make you feel that way and limit the amount of time you spend in front of screens. Remember that reality is outside of them; Share with the people around you, give them priority and put away your mobile phone at those times. Only you, and no one else, is in control of what you let into your life, it is your responsibility to set limits on what is making you feel unpleasant emotions.
