Setting Boundaries with Social Media
A recurring hot topic is how much social media can influence our mental health. So what can we do about it?
To start, we must understand the basics of what social media is doing. Studies such as one done by Ulvi et. al, Social Media and Mental Health: A Global Analysis showed, “Results indicate that while social media can create a sense of community for the user, excessive and increased use of social media, particularly among those who are vulnerable, is correlated with depression and other mental health disorders.” This groups study portrays the opportunity for mental health benefits by connecting with communities that are meaningful to people online, and highlight that where they started to see decline in people’s reported mental health symptoms was categorized as “misuse” or “overuse” of social media.
So what is social media “misuse” in the context of mental health?
To us, misuse is when comparison and influence takes a turn for the negative. For example, the US Public Health Service’s recent 2023 social media and youth report stated, “When asked about the impact of social media on their body image, nearly half (46%) of adolescents aged 13–17 said social media makes them feel worse, 40% said it makes them feel neither better nor worse, and only 14% said it makes them feel better.” As you can see, the main difference between what the participants were consuming and how it was reported in regards to body image seems to do with if comparison to themselves is actively happening, with a potential biased to those who “fit the societal model” of what a body “should look like.”
The phrase, comparison is the thief of joy- is a very powerful narrative that can help people translate comparison into inspiration. This is not to say your own switch from comparison to inspiration means you would instantly be impervious to all social content influencing your mental health. Although, it could help our antidote of externalizing it from yourself.
What do social media boundaries look like then?
Self to self boundaries: Let’s start with arguably the hardest type of boundaries- the self to self ones. To understand the boundaries you want to set with yourself, it helps to be self reflective. How well do you know yourself? Are you the type of person who needs that little phone lock safe from Amazon or do you have the self control to set your phone down and not touch it? Examples of self to self boundaries related to social media might include: Recognizing when you notice your mental wellness start to dip from overuse; Physical space from your phone or electronics; Externalizing other people’s lives (and the fact that social media is not the whole picture of their lives) from your own life.
Time: As I mentioned earlier, studies have shown that the length of time people are on social media can impact the type of mental influence that occurs. Most phones and laptops have a way for you to view how many hours you are on social media. Check that number and ask yourself, what can this time we filled with? (*if you work in social media see below) Try to create ways to set time limits for yourself. For example, maybe it says 5 hours a day- how can you get that to 4 hours? Then 3? Then 2? What hobbies, friends, events, pass times, or activities can substitute the doom scroll?
Type of media consuming: I understand some people may see this as controversial depending on the context. Obviously this is not to say to limit your ability to view educational, scientific, and helpful social media. But it is to recognize that we are allowed to have limitations. For example, when a celebrity dies by suicide, people who have experienced suicide may be triggered and see negative symptoms from the media content that is put out related to this tragedy. It is okay to take a break. Another example is if you are working on Eating Disorder recovery, and feel certain types of influences negatively impact your ability to be kind to yourself. This is not a long term solution, but while you are in that raw and healing state, and it is hard to externalize other peoples content from how you treat or view yourself- maybe decreasing the content can help more than it can hurt. Many social media sites give us some “autonomy” in setting these boundaries such as blocking people, unfollowing, or reporting to the app that you don’t feel the content is relevant to you.
Situational Boundaries: Similar to the type of media, there might be times of year that you know social media will be negatively impactful on your wellbeing. An example is if you have lost a parent, and during the weeks leading up to Mother’s or Father’s day you get overwhelmed by all the ads for these holidays. Think about creating a plan of supportive boundaries during the time of year, and what you can do if it pops up in your life abruptly.
Professional Boundaries: A lot of people have jobs tied to social media. If this includes you, there is still room for boundaries for your personal media use and your professional media use. Things such as defining your work hours, your work goals, and ways to take breaks from social media throughout the day can be helpful. 10 minutes outside every few hours without a phone or screen in front of you probably won’t drastically change your workflow or progress. If you use social media for self promotion, think about how you can delegate some of the time you would spend online to other people or apps. This means you are condensing your time to ver specific, thought out windows to not be working way past your designated work hours.
These things are forever changing. The main goal is to check in with yourself about misuse of media and how it affects your mental health. Social media is constantly changing, and so our boundaries around social media need to be able to fluctuate. If you are ever unsure about the boundaries you need to set with social media, check in with your therapist.
