Social Media Pressure
Social media is a common part of our daily lives now, it has worked its way into our routines and lifestyles, and for many the thought of not being able to scroll through a feed, or like a picture, is a truly terrifying thought.
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However, our every growing reliance on social media, can also have dangerous negative impacts on our mental health. Especially for younger men, "with more than one in three men (37 per cent) saying social media has a negative impact on how they feel." (Mind, 2020)
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This is because social media pushes people to showcase themselves and their lives in desirable ways to the world. After all, who doesn’t want to come across as sexy, rich, or fun!
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Yet the problem lies in that so much consumption of this type of media, can lead to a feeling of failure with your own lifestyle. As your looks, social life or happiness just doesn’t seem to ever be as good as all these other people online.
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Take these following examples:
Wealth
Showing off your lavish lifestyle has in many ways become a staple of social media. This is partly due to the rise of influencers, where entire careers are built upon this very basis.
But as they jet off to yet another tropical island, or cruise around in a supercar, while staying in the fanciest hotels and eating in the nicest restaurants. It can be impressionable for some of their younger audiences, especially those who then feel down or annoyed that they cannot have this as their own lifestyle.
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Now while it is easy to dismiss this and say that there have always been those lucky enough to lead such lifestyles, it should not be forgotten that it was never on such a display as it is now. This constant reminder of a better life, can lead many to feel like their own is not worth it!
Social
Another key pressure from social media, and one that is heavily linked to the same issues as above, is that of leading and showing off a good social life.
This is because people want to appeal and want to show that they are living fun and fulfilling lives. Whether this is travelling the world, or constantly having parties, and adventures with friends. People want to showcase their life as enjoyable and desirable.
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Similar to above, this can unfortunately lead to mental health issues for some, as they compare themselves and their own lives to others. This can lead to depression, anxiety and other issues as they then start to beat themselves up for not having as exciting lives, or start to question as to why their social life isn't as good, and so on.
Body Image
Body image is undoubtedly the biggest pressure issue with social media, and the one that primarily affects younger men and women the most.
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We all want to look good, and we all want to feel wanted and attractive. Now thanks to social media, we can get almost instantaneous gratification and confidence boosts, simply by uploading pictures of ourselves. People like and comment on these pictures and thus we feel good about ourselves.
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But this can also be a slippery slope, as the confidence boosts can become addicting, and lead to cravings of feeling like we need this attention and desire continuously. This can lead to reassurance and anxiety issues, as well as in some cases individuals uploading more sexual or revealing pictures to achieve this effect. Obviously this can then lead to its own complications and issues surrounding the world of online sexting, especially when teenagers are involved.
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But this is just one side, as another impact from this, is that people can go the other way and start to feel insecure about their bodies. This affects both men and women, as we are constantly bombarded with the appeal of models in swimwear showing off their perfect gym toned bodies. Only for us to look down at our own in despair.
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Typically, this has always been an issue that has more widely affected younger women, yet now it seems it is taking its toll on men too. With many young men openly admitting to body confidence issues, due to the feelings of imperfection against what they deem to be the benchmark for how men should look.
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This then comes back round full circle, and links back into the "Ideal Man" topic, and how men should look, act and behave.
Success
Comparing success has always been present throughout our societies. As we compare and contrast everything from our finances, jobs, and grades to friends, family and colleagues.
But once again, through the rise of social media, we now have a larger platform than ever before, to compare to so many others.
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Rather unsurprisingly, and in keeping with the previous examples, this can lead to mental health illnesses that are caused largely by unhealthy expectations and comparisons.
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We might log on, to see that fellow colleagues or friends are getting married, having children, or getting their dream houses. Which can then lead to us questioning as to why we haven't yet achieved those things in our own life, and of course this leads to a feeling of not being good enough and us questioning ourselves and feeling like we have failed in our lives.
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Being Available All The Time
This is probably the newest rising issue that affects men on social media, especially younger men, as it seems to primarily be more of an issue for teenagers in particular.
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So what do we mean by being available all the time? Well in short, many feel that they spend to much time on social media, but should they not be on it, then they feel a fear of missing out. But by spending so much time on social media, you are feeding the other issues mentioned above, as well as taking away from your own productivity and life.
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This is why it is such a large issue for teenagers, as it can negatively impact studying, school, hobbies and relationships. This can be detrimental to some of the most important years of their lives, as well as leading to other complications and mental health issues.
Everyday millions of people struggle with dealing with these kind of social media issues.
Modern Day Men in Britain spoke to 21-year-old Connor Brackell, who used to suffer with anxiety and other mental health issues that had stemmed largely from his social media use.
Connor let us know his thoughts and opinions on social media, as well as what mindset he would recommend, in order to have a positive experience when using the various apps!
Primarily all of the issues seem to derive from the same aspects of social media then, which is spending too much time on it. Thus leading to becoming engrossed and overly reliant on using it as a means to either aid your own existing insecurities, or becoming so captivated and comparative to other peoples lifestyles that you begin to develop or worsen insecurities.
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The simple answer is to spend less time on such platforms then, however this is not always easy and for many social media is a way of life now.
But as Connor said, having the right mindset when using these apps, can also go a long way.
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For example, don't beat yourself up about not having the same bodies, lifestyles or money as other people. Because ultimately a lot of things on the internet are exaggerated anyway and I can almost guarantee that every smiley happy influencer, has plenty of issues in their own lives that they simply choose not to show.
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So don't be put down and think you will never achieve those luxury holidays or that shiny house or car. Instead use it as motivation for your own life, to work hard and want to succeed!
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