Healthy Habits 6-10: Barriers and boundaries needed for social media success

Creating a healthy relationship with social media comes down to recognizing barriers and establishing boundaries for yourself.

Here are 5 ways we explored this month:

Healthy Habit #6: Don't give up on your social media goals.

Frustrated that you don't seem to be making progress creating healthy social media habits? A recent survey found it takes between 18 and 254 days for some people to form new habits. ⠀ ⠀ With "opt-out of social media" and "spend less time in front of screens" as some people's 2020 goals, it's important to know expectations in terms of getting healthy habits to stick. ⠀ ⠀ It could take a few weeks (or even months) for your new habits to take hold. Don't get discouraged. Don't give up.

Healthy Habit #7: Understand that speed is sometimes our downfall and a barrier to social media success.

It may be an emotional response. It may come from the desire to be first to know and share a juicy tidbit. ⠀

But sometimes our speed is our downfall. ⠀ ⠀ Don't be so quick to hit retweet or share unless you KNOW the information you're sharing is accurate. ⠀

Healthy Habit #8: Don't be so easily influenced.

In one of the most bizarre stories on the topic of social media and influencers is a recent article from Vice, which chronicled a prank in which social media celebrities were tricked into promoting a fake product – a drink, made with cyanide. ⠀ ⠀ "They asked me would I promote the drink without using it," one influencer wrote. "In the heat of the moment I said yes [...] Of course I would never promote anything that contains poison and proper checks would have been made before any promotion." ⠀ ⠀ It just goes to show that the world of influencers is a HEAVILY UNREGULATED ENVIRONMENT. ⠀ ⠀ Be very careful with the products you buy or consume at the prompting of influencers. If you are an influencer, CHECK ANY PRODUCTS YOU ENDORSE. You could be putting your audience in harm's way.

Healthy Habit #9: Asking yourself a few questions before you decide to post.

Is it something you could just Google? ⠀ Is it risqué?⠀ Is it a photo of someone else (even your child)?⠀ ⠀ Don't post anything without asking yourself a few questions first. What would you/should you ask yourself before you share?

Healthy Habit #10: Look exactly like you do. No catfishing allowed.

I don't know what it was exactly, but something happened in the last ten years. That something made people think they no longer had to look like themselves on social media. ⠀ ⠀ Rule of thumb: look like yourself. Look like the way you look now. Don't fall into the trap of thinking you have to airbrush yourself to appear more attractive.