Ever found yourself comparing your body to others you see online? Well, we’ve compiled our top 3 things to stop negative body thoughts online.
1: think snack size each day, <30 mins
- Some of the existing literature on social media usage suggests there’s an enormous amount of social comparison that happens.
- A 2017 study out of Macquarie University suggests spending just 30 minutes on social media at a time, can make us fixate negatively on our weight & appearance (1).
- A 2018 study out of the University of Pennsylvania found that using less social media than you normally would leads to significant decreases in both depression and loneliness (2).
2: unfollow or mute accounts that have you comparing
- Consider the types of accounts that might be contributing to you comparing your own body & behaviours.
- Some accounts that might share more body or appearance focused images or videos could be: “health/fitness”, “beauty” or “fashion”.
- This doesn’t mean you’ll never follow these types of accounts again in the future. It might just be helpful while you are trying to build your own body confidence back up to mute or unfollow them.
3: actively follow accounts that make you feel good
- Seek out accounts that make you feel good about yourself & your body during this time.
- Try following accounts that are non-appearance related eg: animals, lifestyle, landscapes, art, local community, culture, activism etc.
- Diversify your feed: branch out of your echo chamber and explore more diverse accounts to experience more diverse bodies- different shapes, sizes, colours, genders, backgrounds, religions etc
- Try following accounts that proactively share body neutrality, diversity or positivity content, some newly discovered and old faves below for inspo:
If you found value in reading about our top 3 things to stop negative body thoughts online then you might also like to read about how food can impact our mood in our latest article here.
If you’d like some further support with improving the way you feel about food and your body you can download the WIRL App on the Apple App Store for free for a limited time!
