Like it not, social media is big business.
Social media is entrenched in our daily lives. It impacts the way we communicate, socialisation, knowledge base for research, business marketing, political persuasion and for most of it, the intention is good. However, there is also an ugly side of social media that has created cyber bullying and privacy issues.
Social media websites are some of the most popular haunts on the Internet. They have revolutionized the way people connect with others.
It has become highly influential in steering our shopping habits and brand awareness. With the abundance of cookies and pixels tracing your every move on the keyboard, businesses can now target you for shopping based on what you have been searching for. Ever noticed how you look for dog food and suddenly there are dog training classes advertised, or you look at pretty dresses and suddenly there are 100 options in front of you. It is feeding off your interactions among other people and other sites. This is behavioural targeting.
It’s great to keep in touch with people and know what is going on in their lives. It is also a great way for world news to travel.
But social media isn’t your best friend on every occasion. 
Social media comes with some negatives and taps into our insecurities.
Social media has been linked to higher levels of loneliness, envy, anxiety, depression, narcissism and decreased social skills. We no longer need to go outside to contact others. Negative people hide behind their keyboard and then become trolls that seek out the weak, the lonely and vulnerable.
This newer form of socialisation brings its own pressures.
We want to look good online. We feel pressured to copy celebrities, the rich and famous leading these glamourous lives seen Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. Many people want to copy them and become popular. Become an influencer. But at what cost is this having on our self-esteem and relationships?
In today’s world, our struggles are even greater than ever before because we can see so much online.
We have to look good in every post, putting pressure on ourselves to appear successful with amazingly interesting lives. Creating more ‘friends’ viewing your life online, then throw in a barrage of advertising that now targets you based on your research and a feeling a failure starts to creep up if you can’t keep up with the game.
A cocktail of reduced self-esteem and feelings of low self-worth becomes a common downside. 
Advertising has a clear and proven impact on our self-esteem. You may make a conscious effort to avoid advertising on TV, it is plastered all over social media. Everything from Kylie Jenner’s latest selfie in a perfect bathing suit to a blogger in her running shoes is likely to be sponsored in the hopes of getting you to buy something and look just like her.
Our time on social media is heavily researched and studied. Studies show the more time we spend on social media sites comparing ourselves to others can have a depressive effect. Much of that content is carefully orchestrated and is not reality. Even our friends tend to only post the good times and not the mundane every day ups and downs. We try to make it look like the best version of ourselves.
This is keeping up with the Joneses and places more pressure on ourselves to out-perform the rest of the crowd, friends, neighbours and families creating untold anxiety over how many followers you have online and how popular you appear.
Can Social media create a sense of false belonging?
Social media creates connections that you would not even consider in real life outside the internet. There are meaningful relationships with people you are connected with online but you can be open to false connections. Many people use social media as a way to stay in touch with friends and family who live far away.
Are we allowing our phone to consume our every waking moment? If so, then we are likely to interrupt our daily lives and keep us from participating in things that matter. Such as your focus on the job or watching your kids playing in the park. Ever seen someone in a café checking their phone when dining out? Constantly checking social media is really off-putting to the person we are sharing the time with and we are really not taking in the moment.
Thus, our self-esteem suffers, we feel a sense of not being worthy of being in the moment with that person. Then the relationship suffers too.
How do we stop social media having that attack on our self-esteem?
Easy. Just stop checking your social media accounts for a time. Rather than surfing through all the information and posts disconnect for a while or just look at your notifications. Set a time when you are feeling especially down and vulnerable and you may avoid being smacked down with your self-esteem tumbling.
Instead of worrying about what people will think of your content online, or how many ‘likes’ or ‘friends’ you get, stay in the present and focus on whatever else is going on at the time.
It has also been noted that deep breathing and mindfulness exercises like meditation can be helpful. Breathe.
Philippa Hunt is a Woman on a Mission.
WiseGirls Money Academy was created after working as a qualified Financial Adviser for many years and deciding it was time to assist women who desired to learn and develop the self-empowerment to understand their emotional relationship with money, the skills and knowledge to save and invest. They wanted to learn how to create their own financial future and become financially capable.
The WiseGirls Money Mission is to provide the opportunity and place for growth and development of women of all ages in personal and financial skills in a supported female environment so that they take control of their future to reach their own financial independence.
