This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of EvolveMKD. The opinions and text are all my own.
After the past year, your thumbs are probably tired of scrolling - and your fingers tired of typing. While more screen time is not necessarily a bad thing... the quality of that time, or lack thereof, can be harmful.
A recent whitepaper I worked on with EvolveMKD, The Evolution of Communication, confirmed: While 79% of men found communicating virtually during COVID had a positive impact on their mental health, only 66% of women had the same feeling.
Which begs the question: How can we, as women, use social media in a way that more positively impacts our health?
As someone who is a huge proponent of quality screen time, here are my top 3 tips:
🧠 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞. Whether you're a fan of gardening, Thai food or fat babies, the internet will quickly help you realize: 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦. Use social media to find like-minded people, and put your arm emoji around them. I recently started a "social media best practices" IG group - and now have about a dozen new colleagues to bounce ideas off of.
🧠 𝐁𝐞 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞. Someone recently asked me: Natalie, what do I have to gain from social media? Instead, I encouraged them to ask: What do I have to 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦? If you’ve discovered a helpful tip - whether it's a meditation technique or a car hack - it’ll probably be useful to at least one other person too. And when we’re talking about mental health, one person is all that matters.
🧠 𝐀𝐝𝐝 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞. It might be tempting to post a photo of yourself - I mean, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴! But resist the urge unless you are adding value. That could mean: A caption that makes someone smile, teaching something (see #2), or even sharing a challenge and how you're working to overcome it.
