Social media can affect our self-esteem

Our Story

In today’s society whether a parent or child, social media can have a negative impact on their self-esteem. We are living in a modern world and have a vast amount of technology at our fingertips. This offers us so many benefits that we can sometimes fail to spot the negative impact that it can have on us mentally.

Social media has become such a large part of everyone’s lives and this includes parents and their children. Nowadays virtually everyone has a profile on a social media platform. Social media can be a great place for making new connections for parents and their children, but it can also have a large impact on a person’s mental health and wellbeing.

Social media can crush our self-esteem and this is because we allow ourselves to compare what we see in front of us, on the screen with what we are living through ourselves in real life. This is something that not only teenagers do, but also parents. As parents we often compare ourselves to other parents and/ or their children.

We are very good at scrutinising ourselves so it’s therefore easy to see why we sometimes don’t feel good enough. It is however something that can work in the opposite way, by making us feel better about ourselves when we see that others may not be doing so great.

The more time spent scrolling on our devices, the higher the chances are that we will compare ourselves to others and have that negative mind-set which is a hard feeling to shake off, leaving us with a lower self-esteem and a much higher level of social anxiety. This is particularly going to be truer when we are in a social setting. This is something that can happen to parents and their children, so it is important that we are all aware of what social media can do to our own perception of ourselves. 

Maybe this should act as a reminder to check in on ourselves and consider the amount of time we spend on our devices even as parents- after all we are setting examples to our children. It’s beneficial to observe our children and the time they spend online. The majority of people we see online only want us to see all of the positive aspects of their lives and barely ever share any of the negatives. This is definitely not realistic but we still compare ourselves, leaving us with self-esteem issues.

It may be wise as a family to put a boundary on everyone’s devices and to set time throughout the day when the phones are put away completely. Enjoy and cherish your time doing things together, especially at meal times and in the run up to bedtime where not only great memories can be made, but hopefully everyone retires to bed feeling relaxed and happy.