Breaking the stigma that Social Media is harmful to mental health

By Ayella Cremat

“We get to live in a time that we get to use social media as a tool. It's not just a face on a piece of paper, and that's what makes you someone's favorite model.”

—Gigi Hadid| Fashion Model

It’s been a while since social media has become a massive platform to utilize communication. Especially during this time of Pandemic. According to a blog post by the Statista Research Department on August 13, 2021, Facebook is one of the most used social media sites in the Philippines, with 76 million users last year.

Additionally, based on the same website, the Philippines is the county in the Asia-pacific region that has the highest daily time spent on the internet. It may sound cliche since we already know that social media can either help us or break us. But the point is, maybe it is time to break the stigma that social media creates mental abuse.

For some people, especially those who have an old school mentality, social media is seen as a mental abuser due to its tendency to create a feeling of ‘self-inadequate.’ Because of this, they argued that social media should be avoided as it triggers life or beauty comparison. However, this harmful notion has recently been overshadowed by positive movements. Spread not only on Facebook but also on other social media sites such as Instagram and the likes.

As stated by psychologytoday.com, “The body positivity movement has caught on, in part, due to social media. The philosophy underlying this movement is that society’s messages about beauty are oppressive and unobtainable.” This movement has encouraged social media users to accept their individuality and to be confident in their unique form of beauty.

Indeed, it is a time to utilize social media as a platform that supports self-love and gives positive effects to our mental health. Specifically in the Philippines has 76 million Facebook users and who also spend 4 hours and 15 minutes on average time on the internet, it is time for us to know who to follow and what to consume on any social media sites. By considering this, we are breaking the stigma that social media creates ‘social envy instead, we are allowing this platform to communicate with us through a positive mentality.