Social Media: a help or a hindrance during Covid-19 lockdown?

Perhaps one of the most beneficial ways that social media is used is to spread awareness: the murder of George Floyd in America sparked a huge online protest that is still ongoing and that has had results. Blackout Tuesday, for instance, was a way that social media users, especially on Instagram, voiced their opinion and fought for justice.

An Opinium survey which was conducted between the 9th and the 14th April found that the number of hours people in the UK spent online had increased by 29% during lockdown, totalling just over 41 hours a week. Indeed, 21% of people admitted to spending a lot more time on social media since being in lockdown.

But has social media really had so much of a positive impact as we might think? Sure, it is easy to keep in touch with friends and family, but there is also the constant stream of pressure that is omitted through social media sites such as Instagram and Facebook. A pressure to be productive, to exercise, to wake up early, to learn new skills, to maintain socially-distant meet ups with friends, something which could make lockdown a rather overwhelming experience, especially since everyone suddenly has far less real world distractions and activities taking place.

Half of the UK population admitted to feeling more down and depressed during lockdown, but how much is the increase in social media usage to blame? Having interviewed several young adults (aged between 18 and 24), I was surprised to find that the overwhelming response to whether social media has been positive during lockdown is that, whilst it has its perks, it also has huge negatives.

When asked whether social media had made their lockdown experience more positive or negative, one person admitted to feeling pressured into being productive, saying that social media has been 60% positive for ‘connecting with friends and seeing what everyone I can’t be near is up to, and 40% negative for comparing everything I haven’t done with everything others have done.’

Another participant believes that social media has made her lockdown experience undoubtedly worse for ‘feeling as though I am addicted to it but not knowing how not to be.’ This is especially so with the increase in adverts that provoke insecurities, such as those for weight loss. She also admits that ‘giving up’ social media for a short time made her feel ‘more isolated’ despite how being on it was making her feel.

This contradictory cycle is something that is experienced by many, especially during lockdown. It is the knowledge that social media is affecting your mental health in negative ways through its stream of pressure to be active or productive, but also that giving it up creates the possibility for more worry and anxiety because you want to check it to see what is going on with others.

So, is this pressure something that will be lessened as lockdown slowly relinquishes, or is this a problem that will always remain so long as people engage in social media? I personally believe that this always has been and always will be a problem, and lockdown was merely the perfect opportunity for it to become worse as our daily lives were brought to a standstill. It would seem that, though social media has its lockdown benefits, it also causes many problems by putting our mental health, especially self-esteem at risk. Being unable to relinquish this need to engage with what other people are doing/have been doing via social media is a huge problem and leads us to compare our own days at home in lockdown.