Don’t Be A Slave To Social Media.

'It's better to be realistic and come out of the virtual world. The moment you do this. You will come to acknowledge the worthy connections of your life’ - Aayush Verma

I was reading the blog I wrote last year about social media not being real life and I was there scrolling through thinking damn, factsss 😂. So it’s only right I do an updated version and drop a few gems for you lot. My title pretty much says it all. Don’t.be.a.slave.to.social.media. PLEASE don’t do it. Social media should not be able to dictate your life, your decisions and who YOU are but sadly for majority of people this is the case and it shows. Social media is an infectious disease that controls the mind. If you participate in at least 1 of the 4 points below then you know social media is pulling your strings.

How to know when you’re a slave to social media?

-  Living life for social media - People literally feel the need to post every single detail of their life, I'll go on snap and just think, “don’t have a private story na?”. It’s so ridiculous, you gotta ask yourself WHY and WHO am I doing this for. Why does everyone need to see what you’re doing, when and what you’re eating, where you are and who you’re with? First and foremost it's dangerous and secondly it’s pointless. So many people spend time living life for social media rather than actually living life. You go on holiday but are more concerned with what picture you’re gonna upload and if it looks like you’re having a good time instead of actually experiencing it. Are you travelling for social media or for yourself? I thought holidays were supposed to be for getting away from everything but I guess not.

- Altering how you look - Image is a HUGE issue for both men and women and when you allow social media to dictate what the beauty standards are, you become a slave to it. Beauty is subjective to everyone and just because social media is telling you big bum, small waist and 6 ft. with waves is attractive does not mean this is the blueprint to being so. Socially constructed beauty standards are ruining our generation for real. How are we seeing people as young as 16 getting lip fillers and people inflicting self-harm, by getting surgery to look like people who they see on the internet, who don’t even look like that themselves. Why is this normalised nowadays? You claim to love yourself so much and are so confident in who you are but social media can sway you into doing this. If you find yourself thinking about changing a thing on your body, or feeling unhappy with the way you look, then you need to get off immediately. Changing yourself is saying God who is the CREATOR of all things made in HIS image, made a mistake. The same way we look at nature and the world in which God made and see perfection is the same way we should look at ourselves and understand we are also perfect. Are we not more important? You shouldn’t care about irrelevant people and their opinions when they shouldn’t even mean anything to you? You fall into the trap and become a slave by giving into these opinions and expectations.

- Presenting a life you don’t live - People normally do this because they’re too indulged in others and aspire to be them. Due to social media being a platform where you can transcend identities, many people take advantage of this and present a life that they do not live. People are really comfortable with going broke to buy a few items of clothing to take a picture in. Going broke for a picture? That’s a joke ting. The worst is when people result to buying FAKE designer just so they can say they have it. When you’re sitting at home on twitter tweeting about a completely different persona to how you are, does it not occur to you that people know you in real life? Social media shouldn’t be able to control you to the point where you forget yourself and that there’s a real life outside of it.

Effects of being a slave

There are so many effects and aspects of yourself that are affected from being a slave to social media.

Your Happiness: When you’re a slave you can never truly be happy knowing you’re not yourself, an image presented is an image that has to be maintained and will you really be able to live with yourself knowing you’re not being you?

Comparison to others: Constantly comparing yourself to people will only make you insecure and have low self-esteem, nobody is the same, and everyone is unique in their own way so why are you watching someone wishing you had certain physical aspects of them? This also leads to feelings of jealousy and bitterness and these are NOT the type of feelings you want deep rooted in your heart.

Wasted time: I feel like age will catch up to a lot of people and they will realise they spent a lot of their years being useless on social media and emitting off self-hate, instead of investing in themselves and their future. We’re at an age where you have to use your brains and actually think about these things, letting social media control your life and thoughts on a regular basis can really distract you from the reality of what’s going on in your life and in general life.

Stagnant life: It’s actually IMPOSSIBLE to grow when you’re a slave. Like impossible. Loving yourself is so key into growing and finding who you are and embracing your individuality. Before you can become someone, you have to spend time with yourself in order for you to learn who you are. Spending time online trying to convince or prove to others you’re “like this” isn’t growth nor reality. How can you truly know yourself when most of your time is being invested in a fake world?

What you should do to stop being a slave?

- Unfollowing: Unfollow and mute people you see yourself comparing yourself to and influencing you. This allows you to grow as an individual because you’re not constantly looking at others and putting yourself down. Personally, I unfollowed most celebrities if they’re not motivating me to reach my goals and followed motivational & educational accounts instead, try it.

- Indulging in people’s lives: It seems like everyone has forgotten that what most people show online is not real. This even includes celebrities, some of you are so indulged and know more about a celebrity than you do your own family members and it’s quite shameful. The money, the cars, the clothes, the friends, the lifestyle it’s all genuinely just a masquerade. People aren’t going to show what really goes on in their lives and that’s what people need to grasp. You’re busy watching other people, speaking on other people’s lives, knowing so much about someone that wouldn’t even think twice about you, rather than focusing on yourself. Why spend your time watching people when you can use that time to be productive? If you do this then social media has an element of control over you.

There are many solutions you can take in order to break the bondage to social media. You can do this by:

- Take a break from your phone: This one needs to be screamed from the roof tops. TAKE A BREAK FROM YOUR PHONES!!! Regular breaks from your phone helps you to align your focus. When you’re with people try not to use your phone and spend time in that moment instead. When I’m with my mates I always tell them it’s a ‘no phone zone’ because what’s the point in being with people when you’re not really there?

- Monitor your screen:  Constantly monitor your screen time, so you see how many hours you spend on. Analyse the times you randomly go pick up your phone so you notice the instinctive pull. Be conscious of the pull you feel to go on your phone & certain apps and fight it!

- Delete apps: Try to delete your apps for a couple hours each day, once you do this you’ll see how your life improves and your priorities get in check, you have way more head space to focus on important things. Make a list (on paper) and get things done!


Social media is a great thing when used in the right way. It’s a powerful platform where we can dominate in sectors that we are passionate about and gain wealth. We can raise awareness about suffering that the government look pass, we can raise awareness to the injustices and inequalities we face AND fight back together as one. We shouldn’t use social media to compare ourselves to others or bring each other down, we should use it for the purpose it was created for. Whether that be keeping in touch with friends and relatives or for business relations. When you let social media control you, it drastically affects how you think, what you believe and how you spend your time. Don’t let social media control you, instead take control back and be more consciously aware of how you are using it. Notice the unhealthy habits you’ve formed and break them by doing one of the things mentioned above. Don’t be a slave.