Here’s When to Tell that You Should Take a Break from Social Media

Words by Cathlyn Mae Botor

From body/face-shaming posts, scandal videos, posts about infidelity/cheating, political attacks, trolls, and bashers attacking each other, we can definitely say that social media has got all of us triggered. We’ve come to a certain era where logging out is almost never an option. We’ve gone beyond using it for online leisure. It has become toxic and even if we don’t want to, the things that we see on social media squeeze out the worst in us.

We’ve rounded up the telltale signs that’ll make you want to go on a social media detox.

6. Ranting, cursing, bashing in the comments section

At times, we come across people fighting in the comments section. I mean, yes, we can voice out our opinions freely. But, there are people who feel so entitled that their rude and hurtful comments already cross the line. As much as we want to stay positive, there are haters/bashers who continue to bring people down. They even curse, fat shame, or worse–tell the person to die.

via GIPHY

5. Constantly finding reassurance in the numbers of likes, shares, views, and followers

Posting a picture of oneself on social media has become a social norm. It could mean updating our friends if we headed to the beach or we got a new haircut last weekend. We like getting a good number of likes. It somehow reassures us getting reactions from our followers. We also see other people’s posts having fun, achieving something, and going to places. It can’t be denied how insecurity comes in when we negatively compare ourselves to them.

via GIPHY

4. Misleading information

We’re all familiar with fake news. People are now more confident in expressing their political views. However, “trolls” also continue to get their way in and circulate wrong information. There are several online sources that aren’t reliable or credible but still goes viral. Many have fallen into the trap of believing in fake news, instead of actually spending time on thorough research. It’s much more annoying to see our close friends and relatives supporting and sharing fake news. It might be difficult to declutter your friends’ list, but you’ll surely thank yourself once you distance away from all these negativity.

via GIPHY

3. Seeing discriminatory and or derogatory posts

Another thing that we should shy away from is discriminating others when it comes to gender preference, skin color, religion, etc. We see derogatory comments that shame people and put them in the spotlight in a bad way. Personal lives are easily compromised on social media. A lot of relationships are being destroyed and people who are discriminated fear that they might lose themselves because of just one viral post.

via GIPHY

2. Posts that invalidate mental health issues

When we feel like we have no one to talk to, we tend to blurt out our vulnerabilities on social media. We also see posts of our friends showing that they’re also struggling. However, we also see those who make fun of other people’s dilemmas, even invalidating their sadness and with comments saying that “ang babaw naman ng problema mo,” “masyado ka lang madrama,” “di naman dapat pinoproblema yan.” These comments aren’t helpful and would only make them feel worse about themselves. The stigma on mental health has to stop. Poking fun at depression, for instance, telling the person to go to the mental health hospital, or even laughing about the matter has to stop.

via GIPHY

1. Jokes about rape/sexual harassment (ain’t funny at all)

Nowadays, the worst thing you can find on social media is any form of online sexual assault and jokes about rape and sexual harassment. When people run out of arguments, they either attack the person through his/her physical appearance, religion, gender, or worse–sending rape threats. Comments like “ang sarap mo naman miss,” “akin ka na lang,” etc. are just a few examples of online sexual harassment. Even when people say they don’t mean to hurt anyone because it’s just a joke, well sorry, a rape joke isn’t funny at all.

via GIPHY

ALSO READ: 7 Things I Learned for Quitting Social Media for 7 days

Have you tried social media detox? Did it make you feel better? Share it in the comments section below!

The post Here’s When to Tell that You Should Take a Break from Social Media appeared first on When In Manila.

from When In Manila http://bit.ly/2QtzIpQ