In our last blog, Social Media: Part 1, we explored this essential, topical subject by looking at what social media is, its pros and cons, and some particular concerns about its impact.

This month, we’re going to continue to examine this matter by having a look at:

the signs of social media addiction
how our data is used
how to manage our social media use in a healthy way
some local IRL alternatives to being on social media

Is it really possible to find a way to use social media that supports our lives and doesn’t have any negative impacts? Let’s try and find out!

Signs of social media addiction/problematic use

It’s worth taking a step back and seriously reviewing your social media use if you notice any of the following:

social media use interferes with your daily routines and commitments, including work, studies, sports, hobbies and relationships
you feel cravings to check your social media use
you find it very difficult to stop scrolling, put down your device and do something else
you are losing sleep because of night time scrolling
you often choose social media time over in-person social interactions
you lie about your social media use, or work around parental controls to access it without your caregivers knowing
your physical and/or mental health are suffering as a result of social media.

Do seek out a trusted adult to talk to about this (see Asking for Help below).

‘The only morality of the algorithm is to optimise you as a consumer and in many cases you become the product.’ - Tristan Harris, formerly of Google

How our data is used

When you sign up for a social media account, you agree to the platform’s terms of service or terms of use. This includes agreeing to the platform storing, collecting, sharing and transferring information about you and your account. The stated aim of this is to enable the platform to provide you with a more personalised and meaningful experience. For example, Meta - which operates many products including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Threads - uses the personal information you share on your profile, your interactions on the platform, your location and information from your contacts, to create a profile on you that helps them and other advertisers, market researchers and data brokers to target recommendations and advertising directly at you. It really can feel like social media is reading your mind sometimes! This can often be helpful and satisfactory - but, sometimes it can feel intrusive and that social media is ‘eavesdropping’ on you. This is what an invasion of privacy feels like in the physical world. Because the data collection is happening in the background, it’s invisible. It’s impossible to fully know or understand who sees and uses your data, which can be very unsettling and raises serious privacy concerns. This, along with the blurring of lines between public and private life - once you post personal, intimate information on social media, you cannot be 100% sure of what will happen to it and who will see it - leads to a feeling of not being in control of your own personal information, and that you are becoming a commodity rather than a human being.

Unfortunately there are also other risks created by the way that social media platforms operate. Data can be used to influence, manipulate, or exploit us in ways we don’t see immediately, and may not realise are happening to us. Because the algorithms generally show you more of what you have been looking at, it can be easy to fall down a rabbit hole of more negative and extreme content. This can be particularly dangerous for vulnerable social media users.

An ‘echo chamber’, where you mainly engage with and encounter opinions of one type, usually similar to your own, is easily created on social media. Opposing or different views are excluded, which can lead to a distorted view of reality. Polarisation is a result of this, where people become less able to tolerate differences in opinion and beliefs become entrenched, along with a lack of curiosity and critical thinking about both the content being consumed and other ways of seeing the world. This can be particularly troubling where it focuses on extreme religious or political views, for example, the user’s tendency towards, racism, misogyny or conspiracy theories is reinforced again and again, ultimately leading to radicalisation.

Fraud is another risk of social media usage. There are many different types of fraud, such as financial, romantic scams, identity theft and blackmail. ‘Phishing’ is where scammers send links to your private messages that lead to fake websites designed to steal your personal and financial information, such as bank or credit card details. Your alertness to and awareness of unsolicited messages and offers that seem too good to be true is very important to avoid falling foul of scammers on social media.

It’s becoming clear that over time, being exposed to and engaging with negative social media content can shape your choices, opportunities, mindset and even your future.

A few examples:

Incel ideology - well illustrated by the infamous 2025 Netflix drama series Adolescence, this disturbing trend has resulted in a rise in misogyny and hatred towards women. Part of the online ‘manosphere’, incel communities are groups of ‘involuntary celibate’ males who share and promote warped perceptions of women, sex, consent and relationships through social media networks. Inspired by rather than based on specific real-life events, the Netflix drama depicts the arrest and its aftermath of a 13-year-old boy charged with killing his female classmate.
Body image/eating disorders/cosmetic surgery - many social media users fall into this rabbit hole, being bombarded with unrealistic images of so-called beauty, which leads to feelings of inadequacy and distorted self-perception. Just watching a few reels about weight loss programmes can lead to the algorithms feeding you more extreme content about unsafe fad diets, weight loss aids and unhealthy eating behaviours. It can influence people to develop eating disorders and seek out cosmetic procedures, both of which have seen a huge rise over the last few years.
Depression & suicide - sadly, an increasing number of suicides are linked to social media usage. In the UK, a recent example is Molly Russell who died in 2017 at just 14 years of age. An inquest into her death looked at the amount of explicit self-harm and suicide-related content she had consumed on Instagram and Pinterest, concluding that she ‘died from an act of self-harm whilst suffering from depression and the negative effects of on-line content’.

Many people feel that the overall benefits of being on social media vastly outweigh these risks. But we can see clearly that these are very serious risks that social media users do need to be aware of. The UK’s new Online Safety Act attempts to address some of these risks, however there is ongoing debate about real concerns over the effectiveness of the measures it is implementing.

What you can do for yourself is have a good look at your social media platforms’ privacy policies and the privacy settings on your accounts. Make sure you are happy with what you have signed up for, and ask for help to apply the appropriate settings if you are not sure of anything. Being alert to these risks and following our tips in the next section will go a long way towards keeping you safe online.

‘*If you are on social media and you are not learning, not laughing, not being inspired or not networking, then you are using it wrong*.’ - Germany Kent

How to use social media in a healthy way

Lots of people do use social media in a way that feels comfortable and healthy for them. Here’s a round-up of the best tips to finding what works for you so that you can feel in control and get the best out of social media.

Be intentional - try different ways of managing social media to find what works best for you - how much time you spend, what and how you are engaging with are the main areas to experiment with.
Be aware - knowing more about how and why date is used can help you to spot potential problems with your social media use.
Consider your goals and values - is your social life online helping you to achieve your real-life goals? Is it aligned with your values?
Unfollow any accounts with content that isn’t making you feel good.
Notice what’s going on in your real life and cultivate gratitude for what you have going on - this is a powerful antidote to comparison-itis.
Switch off your devices 1-2 hours before you want to be asleep - to allow your brain to wind down and get good quality rest.
Put your devices outside of your bedroom overnight - give yourself the best chance for quality sleep and a proper break from social media.
Switch off notifications - get rid of the constant pinging by switching off your notifications for certain apps either all the time or when you choose to. Then you choose when to look at social media rather than it continually grabbing your attention.
Choose your limits - change the Digital Wellbeing settings on your phone or set limits within the apps themselves to control when and how long you can access social media each day. This might change across the week, for example, if you have a lot on IRL on Mondays and Tuesdays, you might decide to access social media for 15 minutes per day, but on Wednesdays you might have a longer session.
Try using a screen time control app - this may support you to stick to the limits you have chosen for yourself. For example, ScreenZen and one sec help you to pause before opening distracting apps, Flora can be used to block chosen apps for specific periods of time, which could be useful for studying, and StayFree and Bepresent helps you to take control of your digital time.
Build IRL social connections - take time every day to connect with friends, family, and with new people! Seek out face-to-face interactions so that your brain can learn how to communicate verbally and non-verbally. Developing good communication skills is vital and will set you up for life.
Connect with real-world communities - find a part-time job, volunteer, help a neighbour, go on a trip with a friend, do more chores at home to help those you live with. Feeling seen, needed, connected and challenged in real life is a good remedy for disconnection and isolation that can lead to negative social media use.
Take some time off - try uninstalling the apps for a day or two and see how you feel. Some people take one or two days off every week and find they don’t miss out on that much!

For more advice and tips, check our our blogs:

Sleep:

https://www.irleducation.org.uk/blog/sleep-is-your-superpower

Communication skills:

https://www.irleducation.org.uk/blog/communication-part-1

https://www.irleducation.org.uk/blog/communication-part-2

https://www.irleducation.org.uk/blog/mastering-the-art-of-small-talk

Studying:

https://www.irleducation.org.uk/blog/study-techniques

https://www.irleducation.org.uk/blog/time-management-2

Building habits:

https://www.irleducation.org.uk/blog/atomic-habits

‘*Spend some time disconnected from technology and reconnected to the world around you. It’s worth it*.’ - Germany Kent

Local IRL Alternatives to social media

Wherever you live, check out the local noticeboards, newspapers and social media community pages to find out what’s going on in real life in your area. Join a group for young people, try out a new hobby or sport, or attend an event. There are lots of alternatives to spending your time scrolling on social media. With more going on in your real, physical life, social media can have its proper place where you can choose to use it when you like, rather than feeling sucked in to it all the time.

Here are a few ideas of where to find out about some of our local groups and activities open to young people:

Local groups for young people:

Aviemore Community & Leisure Centre - Fusion (S1-S6s) - Fridays 8.00-9.30pm

YMCA, Grantown-on-Spey - Senior Drop-In (S1-S6s) - Thursdays 7.00-9.30pm

Craig Maclean Leisure Centre, Grantown-on-Spey - Fusion (S1-S6s) - Fridays 8.00-9.30pm

Local towns & villages ‘what’s on’

Local weekly Parkruns

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/aviemore/
https://www.parkrun.org.uk/anagachwoods/ - Grantown-on-Spey

Local cinema

Asking for help

If you are experiencing some challenges with social media, do consider talking about this with a trusted adult. A parent, guardian, older sibling, friend, relative or teacher may be able to listen and provide valuable support - most of them use social media too, so they will be able to understand. Try to choose someone who you know is a good listener.

Some things you might like to discuss:

what are the specific issues you are having with social media?
whether you need some support with developing positive ways to use social media
how does the trusted adult use social media, and what you can learn from that
whether the adult has any useful advice or guidance to give you

If you are struggling to identify someone in your personal life to have this discussion with, get in touch with us!

Our challenge to you

This week, find out what it’s like to do a ‘digital detox’:

pick a period of time that’s a bit of a challenge but manageable - for example, one day at the weekend
tell people in advance that you won’t be contactable via your devices for that time
arrange something to do in real life - with a friend or family, to ensure you have some social contact that day
switch off all your devices - ask someone else to look after them if you think you’ll be tempted to break the detox early!
notice how you feel during the detox period. Do you miss your device? What specifically do you miss about it? What are you paying attention to? What is comfortable or uncomfortable?
afterwards, reflect on how it felt. How was your sleep? How did it feel to switch the devices back on?

If a full digital detox sounds a step too far, try doing a social media detox - uninstall the apps from your phone and follow the steps above. Afterwards, consider whether you missed it as much as you thought you might.

There’s no right or wrong way to do this challenge. It’s about helping you understand the relationship you have with your devices/social media, and then being more intentional going forward about how you use them to support rather than run your life.

Further resources