Social media can be such a negative space.
I don’t know about you, but for me, Instagram can be the queen of negativity.
It’s not that it doesn’t show up on other social media networks, but even from the very beginning of an Instagram post – the picture. The photos alone can be triggers for some of us, and then reading the posts or comments can be toxic at times.
This has been on my mind lately and I am glad to be sharing this post with you. While we can’t completely eliminate everything that causes us stress or unhealthy thoughts, we can definitely put on our blinders and keep our IG feeds as healthy as possible.
Here are some quick and easy ways to make your Instagram feed more positive and an overall happier place to scroll through.
Delete Accounts That Have a Negative Impact
Are there some accounts that you currently follow that make you feel bad about yourself? This could be anywhere from thinking their words don’t align with your thoughts and values, or seeing photos that make you feel less-than or make you question your body.
You don’t need a “good” reason to delete someone. The only reason required is that they make you feel sad or depressed when you’re viewing their posts. There may not be much in this life that we can truly control, but this is thankfully one of them.
You control what type of space you want to be in on your Instagram feed, so choose to make it a positive, inspiring and happy place where you feel like your soul is being fed instead of your mind and body being torn apart.
Don’t Play the Comparison Game
I’m not the first one to write about how terrible playing the comparison game is, and I won’t be the last. It’s for good reason that it’s talked about often though.
Literally the minute you start playing the comparison game, you’ve already lost.
There is nothing good that comes from looking at someone’s IG and comparing where they are to where you are. I think what’s important to remember is that when you’re viewing someone’s post and it’s either got super beautiful lighting, filters, snazzy videos, or whatever it is that makes you love it – they didn’t start there.
You can go to almost anyone’s feed that you really love and scroll down to some of their beginning posts. I can almost guarantee they look very different! It’s all about learning and growing throughout the process, my friends.
The only comparison that is worthy is comparing yourself today to the person you were yesterday, a month ago, a year ago, etc. You are unique. There is no one out there that has exactly what you have to offer. Even if someone is in the same niche as you are or sells something that you also offer – they can’t bring it the same way you do!
Be the Person You Want to Follow
I’m a firm believer in what we put out into the universe is what we get back. If you’re an encouraging person, kind-hearted and supporting others, then I believe you will find those same people and welcome them into your life.
When it comes to social media and Instagram in particular, people with bad intentions tend to feel invincible. I think those who say snide comments or are downright cruel to others, they have so many insecurities within themselves. I think they make themselves feel better just by making others feel bad.
While I had most of this written prior to reading Shelbee’s post, it really goes along with it this topic. As she said, spread kindness to others. It matters. A caution on the language, friend.
While I can’t see any of you lovely ladies falling into this category, we have all said something online that we have regretted afterwards. It may not have even been super mean, but we still knew we shouldn’t have said anything at all. So I want to encourage each of you to be mindful of what you say to others. If you don’t have anything nice to say, it’s best not to say anything at all.
Because regardless of what people have said over the years, words do hurt and they leave scars that sometimes never fully heal.
I hope that you’ve gained some ways that can help make your Instagram feed more positive, friend! Check out the questions below and let me know what you think about IG.
Let’s Chat!
Do you think Instagram can be toxic?
Have you ever done a social media detox?
Do you delete accounts that make you unhappy?
These are great tips! I definitely post when I want to and if generally I have a good mindset bc like you said it can leave you feeling negative.
http://www.rdsobsessions.com
Thank you so much, Rach! It’s definitely important to protect your peace, especially with social media.
These are great tips, Ashley and I agree social media can be so negative! For me, Facebook is the worst, so I deleted the app on my phone, which has been helpful. I also only follow accounts that inspire me on IG and do my best not to get trapped into comparison. Thanks for sharing these tips. Happy Monday:)
http://www.alovelymessylife.com
Hi, Martha! Good for you on deleting the Facebook app and how you’re handling IG, that’s amazing. 🙂 Wishing you the brightest Monday, my friend!
Thanks so much for sharing these are such great tips
Candice x
theblogsocial.com
Aww, thanks for reading, Candice! Hope you’re having a great Monday!
I agree with all of this Ashley! I have tried to get rid of accounts that don’t serve me anymore. Comparison is hard to stop but working on that. I think that’s why I love my peace of Kathrine handle so much because there’s no pressure. I know that’s they way I need to go but it’s a tough change. Great post my friend!
https://www.kathrineeldridge.com
That’s great, my friend! I can definitely relate on the comparison note, but I am always working to try to keep my mindset positive and just focus on what I can do. I love your Peace of Kathrine account, it always makes me smile. Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful week!
These are all great tips!!
Jennifer
Curated By Jennifer
Thanks so much, Jennifer! 🙂
Thank you so much for these useful tips
I noticed I was following a very negative person with toxic traits
And this person always was talking bad about her life and sincerely I decided to mute her stories
Yeah she has wonderful content but the stories are really negative and that was having a bad feeling in me.
You are more than welcome, friend! Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to leave a comment. 🙂 Good for you on muting her stories! It’s always surprising to me when you come across someone with great/positive content yet their stories speak a totally different language. Of course we all have bad days here and there, but if it’s constant negativity, that is not healthy for us.
Just what I needed! I’ve been spending so much time on social during the pandemic, and it’s not a good thing. I’m taking what you said to heart about being a person I’d want to follow!
Aww, I’m so happy to hear that, Kristen! I have no doubt you’re an amazing person to follow. 🙂 I agree, I’ve been on it more often as well, and sometimes we just need to take a little time away from it.
Hi Ashley, these are all great tips. I personally don’t like Instagram at all and I have temporarily suspended my account since the start of the year and I haven’t reopened it just yet. As a creator, it feels overwhelming and I can’t seem to ever want to be there (my daily activity there before I suspended it was 7 minutes, lol). I do plan on going back eventually and that why this post was so inspiring. I particularly liked the tip to be the person you want to follow (this is a brilliant tip really. Very insightful to give us some direction).
http://www.labellesociety.com
Thank you so much, Ana! I can totally understand that, glad you made the decision to suspend it for now. If it’s not bringing you joy, then it’s just not worth it, my friend. Thank you again for your kind words!
I think my biggest thing is I compare too much, but I’m working on it. I try not to do it x
Laura
https://www.beautywithlala.com/
It’s definitely difficult not to, Laura, but so well worth it to continue working on focusing on what amazing things we can do, and not worry about what everyone else is doing. 🙂 Wishing you the brightest weekend, friend!
It’s so easy to fall into the comparison trap. I never feel bad about deleting accounts that are not helping me in a positive way. These are great tips!
Jill – Doused in Pink
So true, Jill. That’s wonderful!! Thanks so much, and I hope you have a fantastic weekend!
I am totally in agreement that you should unfollow/mute accounts that don’t make you feel good or bring a bad vibe. Protecting your mental health via curating your social media is so important!
-Ashley
Le Stylo Rouge
Absolutely, Ashley! It is very important and it is never worth your mental health, no matter who it is that you’re following on social media.
Very inspiring! I totally agree: Unfollow negative people is the first thing to do. Thank you!
Aww, thank you Silvia! Yes, you are so right. Wishing you a great weekend ahead!
Amazing tips here.
At first I was feeling bad to delete accounts I used to follow but now I do it.
I don’t want to keep looking at accounts which make me feel bad at myself 🙂
Thanks for sharing all theses amazing tips. There are precious to make an instagram a lot more positive.
xx
Margot
https://troughthepasturesofthesky.com
Thank you so much, Margot! So proud of you for doing that! I can relate, I used to feel awful about it thinking there must be something wrong with me because I wanted to delete them – but thankfully I learned otherwise.
Great tips! I recently had an Instagram clear out and I felt so much better after it!
https://volumesofbeauty.com/
That’s awesome, Molly!
Great tips! At times instagram can get tricky especially if you send a lot of time on it. I definitely like to take breaks.
http://www.fashionradi.com
Thank you so much, Radi! I agree, we all need a little time to breathe away from IG and other social media platforms.
These are good tips! I don’t follow a lot of people on Instagram as I agree it’s important to have your feed be somewhere you enjoy using – if you have negative thoughts or feelings on any kind of app you need to consider why you’re using it, and with social media it means changing up who you follow! 🙂 I have had a lot of people ask why I’m not following them back and that can be tricky sometimes but I just want to keep my little Instagram scroll as a fun frivolous time out in the day and I don’t want drama or negativity in it! 🙂 I mostly follow local accounts from other mums instead of bloggers as I want real actual outfits for fashion inspo, not posed photoshoots 🙂 I do love a good posed photoshoot on a blog though!
Hope that you are having a good weekend!
Thank you so much, Mica! 🙂 I definitely agree with you, and love that you practice healthy boundaries on who you follow. I agree it can be difficult to have convos with people over why you’re not following them, but I love your reasoning behind who you chose to follow. It’s all about what brings you joy and keeps your space positive! 🙂
It’s off to a great start so far, WandaVision and pizza, haha! Wishing you the brightest weekend, my friend! 🙂
These are wonderful tips! And you really have a such a positive, uplifting instagram feed, too!
Aww, thank you so much Laura! You are too kind. 🙂
Hi again dear, just wanted to stop by to say that I am really enjoying getting to know you better and to wish you a great weekend 🙂
Lots of love from Barcelona,
Ana
Thank you SO much, Ana! I feel the exact same about you and am so happy we found each other’s blogs. 🙂
These are such a great tips. I completely agree with you. Comparison games can make people feel about yourself and ruined life. I stop to follow all of influnecers and I only follow people who I know in pearson and spent time with.
New Post – https://www.exclusivebeautydiary.com/2021/02/the-unrivaled-skincare-products-that.html
Thank you so much, friend! You are absolutely right, it can be a very destructive place. I’m so happy you made the decision to only follow those you personally know and enjoy their company. That’s wonderful!
These are really great tips, Ashley! Social media can be so demoralising at times! I try to only follow accounts that make me feel inspired and/or happy and I really do try to avoid the comparison game (not always easy but I try!) and to be careful about what I say. My Mum always said ‘If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all’, and I find there is always SOMETHING nice if we try to focus on finding it!
Julia x
https://www.thevelvetrunway.com/
Thanks so much, Julia! It truly can be, I love that you’re choosing to follow those accounts that are inspiration to you. Your momma is a very smart lady, that’s wonderful advice and so true. 🙂 There really is always something nice, or good, about something or a situation. It’s all about where our mindset is, if it’s focused on the good, we will find the good!
I think these are such good tips to remember. Unfollowing accounts and hashtags that cause comparison is something that a lot of people can benefit from (including myself!). Thank you for sharing these ideas! <3
xoxo,
Sydney
http://www.thelotuslist.blogspot.com
Thank you so much, Sydney! You are absolutely right, I didn’t even think to mention hashtags when I wrote this post. That’s a great point!
Oh my gosh Ashley, as soon as I saw the title of this blog post, I couldn’t wait to read it! Instagram can be so toxic and truly fuel our perfectionism. I am so bad about comparing myself to others on Instagram. Not necessarily our lives, but mostly comparing my work to theirs. I love the idea of comparing ourselves to ourselves in the past! We grow so much over time that it is truly motivating to see how far we’ve come. I loved this post so much <3
Jill
https://jilliancecilia.com/
Aww, I’m so happy this post resonated with you! 🙂 I agree with you. As a perfectionist, it’s easy for me to fall into that trap as well. It’s truly all about growing and bettering ourselves each day, and that’s always going to benefit us and get us to where we want to be in life. Thanks so much for reading, Jill!
I believe so much in what you have written. Too many times people post something just to show products, just to make views, and the post are so empty and useless. Thanks for sharing awareness about this topic.
xx Dasynka
http://dasynka.com
Thank you so much, Dasynka! You make a very good point. Too often, I think people get focused on numbers and making money. While both can be amazing and of course everyone has to make a living, it’s important that you are genuine and allow your audience to really get to know who you are and to have some real substance to what you’re putting out there.
Yes, to all these points! It is important to not let the comparison game paralyze us.
xoxo
Lovely
http://www.mynameislovely.com
Thanks so much, Lovely! Very true, it sadly can take over if we allow it to.
Great tips and really overlooked! Theres some netflix movie that really describes how damaging socials can be – and clearing out the clutter is definitely so imporant.
XX Angelica
https://eraenvogue.com
Thank you so much, Angelica! I don’t have Netflix anymore or I’d check those out, but I’m very happy they’re raising awareness of some of the ugly effects of social media.
Ah yes I love/hate relationship with IG. Things are so intense today b/c of social media when I was a kid and teen it was all about magazines and TV shows but you could be like “oh that is not real those are models and actors nobodies life is that great. But with social media you see these people who are super attractive, have perfect health, make good money, have partners, nice homes and in some cases children and it seems they did not have to work that hard for it, or at least there was a pay off. And now you can not just shrug it off and say it is not real b/c it is. So yeah this makes it worse. Great tips here BTW.
Allie of
http://www.allienyc.com
I can relate to that so much, Allie. In the very beginning, even when internet was becoming a bigger thing, we were too poor to have the internet. I had an old IBM computer that I learned to type on and had a few games, but definitely nothing else, haha. I can remember viewing those magazine covers and just seeing tv promote a certain body image, and it’s crazy how much that can impact a young teen. And that goes ten-fold now with social media. It’s gotten so out of hand and people don’t realize how many things are not actually real – like all of the filters, makeup, etc. Not saying that there is anything wrong with that of course, just that sometimes young girls don’t realize that these people don’t wake up looking like this and are often very photoshopped. You make a great point, so often it makes everyone’s lives look ‘perfect’ when there is actually no such thing.
Thanks so much for reading, my dear friend!