Roz Purcell is one of my favourite people to follow on Instagram. She shares images of what she posts online vs the outtakes in her camera roll. She looks beautiful in both images; however, we accredit one as ‘insta worthy’ and the other image goes in the bin.

Every time I see her posts, it makes me think about how we need to take everything we see online with a pinch of salt. And I’m not just talking about body image, but we’ll start here.

Body image

body positive

We see images of people with ideal bodies online and how ‘perfect’ they look. As Roz Purcell points out in many of her posts, their perfect image may be enhanced by filters, lighting, how they pose etc.

Or maybe these people do look perfect in real life, but they fail to mention the sacrifice that went into getting that body. It’s easy for us to say, “I’d love to look like that”, but stop eating biscuits, cut out alcohol and go to the gym every day? No thanks pet I’ll have my glass of wine and keep that extra flab blanket around my waist. It’s cosy anyway.

We need to remember that although these fitness girls and boys may look amazing, they’ve dedicated a lot of their life to this. It’s hard work and that’s brilliant if that’s your priority. But for many of us, it’s not. We are simply trying to be the healthiest versions of ourselves and don’t have time for such dedication. So don’t berate yourself. You’re grand.

Productivity

We’ve all heard about positive body image, but what about the motivated, productive individuals who pop up on your screen that make you feel worse about yourself?

We go onto YouTube and up pops 21-year-old Zac who has given up his 9-5 job two years ago to pursue a multimillion eCommerce company. He now owns three Lamborghinis. He’s living the dream, traveling whilst he works. Here’s me coming onto YouTube to watch the best bits of Gavin and Stacy, and now you’re tormenting me with this? No thank you. Skippppppp ad.

It’s easy to scroll through social media, seeing the most productive people with online businesses, getting up at 6am to do yoga as the sun rises, and thinking well shit. Didn’t I sleep into 10am today, got up and watched tv. I have accomplished nothing of the sort.

You start to feel guilty about being unproductive, because many people online are portraying how organised and efficient their life is. Yet, we never stop and think, maybe they’re absolutely wrecked? Maybe they dislike their work, even if it makes good money? Maybe they haven’t seen their friends in three months and missed Christmas with their family last year because they were sacrificing so much.

Now if this is what Zac from Birmingham wants to do to achieve his Lamborghinis, that is so fine. But maybe you were having too much of a good damn time to be as productive as him because your values lie with spending time with friends and family. Yes, let it inspire you if that’s what truly gets you going. But don’t let others’ productivity make you feel bad- everyone has different goals and values. And that’s okay. It’s not a competition.

Relationships

Another thing we must remember is that a false portrayal of relationships online can be prevalent, especially on Tiktok. Yes, a relationship should be seen as a great addition to your life if you’re with the right person, but the belief that we ‘need’ a boyfriend or girlfriend often comes from how relationships are portrayed in movies, tv shows, and online.

Not to say that the couple you see smiling on your screen aren’t happy, they probably are. But are they constantly smiling and never have disagreements? Probably not. I’m not trying to be cynical here. I’ve just witnessed people being emotionally affected by seeing too much of this type of content that sets relationships at an unrealistic expectation.

Seeing images of happy couples online are again, only a snapshot and we never truly know what might be going on between behind the screen. So, don’t set your own relationship or your relationship with yourself to this false standard.

Where am I even going with this post? You’re asking me.

Here’s some Top Tips for Taking Everything You See Online with a pinch of salt, be it body image, productive people, relationships or anything else you can think of:

Top Tips

  1. Try to view online content objectively

Just view it for what it is, if you find yourself getting wrapped up in content that’s making you feel worse about yourself, take a step back and remember its only a picture or a video. It doesn’t represent true life.

2. Put your phone down

Some days you find yourself mindlessly scrolling through social media. I always find that you tend to do this when you’re feeling down/ unmotivated. Push yourself to set your phone down and go for a walk, it’s amazing how you’ll not even want it after a while.

3. Check your screen time

If you’re noticing that you spend a lot of time on your phone during certain times of the day, plan an alternative activity for that time. If it’s the morning time, charge your phone across the room and promise yourself you won’t waste time on it until you’ve got your morning tasks out of the way. Then once you’ve mastered this, please tell me how.

4. Get Informed

The best way we can become more aware of how online activity impacts us is by becoming more informed. I recently watched the Social Dilemma on Netflix and thought it provided a brilliant insight into how social media affects us.

I haven’t read this book, but have heard great reports on it: How to Break Up with Your Phone : The 30-Day Plan to Take Back Your Life.

5. Stop comparing

You are not them; they are not you. You have a class smile; they have a class pair of potentially fake boobs.

We need a gentle reminder every now and again that everything isn’t exactly how it seems online and you definitely don’t know what’s going on in people’s lives. I know for me, personally, I spend much more time scrolling through social media when I am bored, or generally unhappy.

So keep all of this in mind the next time you’re scrolling online and try to take everything you see with a pinch of salt. x

Eilís