Can Social Media Be Good for You? We Broke Down the Benefits.

Whether you moved away to go to school or work or just don’t get to see your people enough, social media is a great way to still feel like you’re a part of the family. As you get older, you’ll find your Facebook and Instagram timelines are essentially just endless scrolls of weddings and baby pictures. And as you get older, the less you’ll mind. Pictures from friends and family are a great way to feel connected to people you love that you might not get to see as often as you’d like. We’re all busy. The internet makes us feel a little less bad about it.

While it’s true that spending too much time on Instagram’s fitness hashtags can set unrealistic expectations, if used correctly social media can be a great way to hold yourself accountable to your goals. By following the right influencers, you can find helpful tips and useful #gymspiration, and by sharing your goals and workouts, you can also get your friends and family involved. Working out, and sticking to your plan, is even easier when you have a little help. You can even make a healthy competition out of it with your friends.

It’s easy to feel alone, and while social media has brought the world closer together than ever before, it’s also shed light on just how big our society really is. But if you’re feeling lonely, help isn’t out of reach thanks to the internet. There are countless communities on reddit for you to talk out your problems. Hashtags like #BellLetsTalk can show that you’re not alone. These platforms don’t just give you the opportunity to share; they give you the chance to listen.

Sometimes, we drift apart from our friend groups. Social media can help us find new ones. On the internet, it’s easy to ingrain yourself into a new group of like-minded people. Maybe you found a local Facebook group that holds meetups. Maybe there’s a Discord channel you constantly lose yourself in. While social media can make some of us feel small, it’s also been eye-opening in showing us that there are others out there like us.

It’s easy to feel left out when you’re glued to your Instagram stories or scrolling through your Facebook feed. That’s unavoidable. But it can also work in your favour. First, from an inspiration standpoint; if winter blues are keeping you glued to your couch, seeing the kind of fun your friends are having could be the kick in the butt you need to get in touch and make plans of your own. And then there’s Facebook’s events calendar. Sure, it can be a graveyard for DJ nights you were never interested in and concert invites friends of friends have sent you, but you can curate it, and sync it to your own calendar, to help spread out your social life.

Dating apps aren’t perfect. But for some, they’re life-changing. It’s not easy to meet people, and apps like Tinder, Bumble and Hinge can be fantastic icebreakers. While they’re potentially problematic, insofar as they can present an overly curated version of a person, simply giving users the opportunity to meet and talk to new people can work wonders in helping them feel social and maybe even desired. While there are obvious safety precautions you need to take when meeting up with someone you’ve met on one of these apps, putting yourself in a position to open yourself to new people can be a great boon to your self-esteem.