digital wellness

Life is Not a Highlight Reel

Highlight reels on social media are all about your top-notch moments when you’re living your best life. It can feel good to share wonderful things happening in your life and to see fun things happening in the lives of others but be sure not to compare your real life to others’ highlight reels.

Remember social media posts are typically just the highlights. People tend to only want to share the good parts of life and hide the not-so-good parts. We don’t know what someone else is going through unless they tell or show us. Perhaps the friend who is sharing all the happy times and bright smiles is secretly living with anxiety, depression or a life-threatening health diagnosis.

An apple in a mirror. the reflection has no blemish but the side of the apple has a bit taken out.

Representation on social media can be like putting your best side forward, and keeping blemishes hidden, like the apple in this photo. In woodworking, craftsman use a veneer, a thin covering of decorative wood, to cover much coarser wood. Social media can be like that… it’s just a veneer, a thin covering of what’s real underneath. It’s interesting that the more coarse heavier wood underneath supports and is stronger than the veneer that covers it. Real life is like that, the highs and lows are part of what make life interesting and add strength, depth and authenticity to our character.

A recent review of literature found both positive and negative correlations between social media use and depressed mood. Take note of how you feel after consuming social media… if you are viewing funny or uplifting posts, or enjoying catching up with friends’ activities, then social media that may be helpful to you. But if you find you are comparing your own life with both ups and downs, to posts that are only the ‘ups,’ it may be time to reevaluate your use of social media. An article published by the National Institutes of Health offers these tips on healthy social media habits:

  • Keep real life in mind. Don’t compare others’ best to your reality.
  • Be intentional about social media use. Is your time online taking you away from healthy activities like time outside, or spending time with friends and family?
  • Ask yourself how viewed content makes you feel. Is what you’re viewing getting you down?
  • Consider posting about the importance of mental health, or that you occasionally have real life struggles. It might just be the refreshing post someone else needs to read.
  • Be real with someone in real life. Authenticity cannot be replaced.
  • Teach children that what they see on social media does not represent real life.

For more information check out this article on digital wellness. Remember that life is not a highlight reel, it’s lived to the fullest in both the joys and struggles.

Writer: Shannon Carter, Extension Educator, Family & Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University Extension, Fairfield County, carter.413@osu.edu

Reviewer: Christine Kendle, Extension Educator, Family & Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University Extension, Tuscarawas County, kendle.4@osu.edu

Sources:

“Healthy Social Media Habits.” Sept. 2022 NIH News in Health. https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2022/09/healthy-social-media-habits

Karim F., Oyewande A. A., Abdalla L. F., et al. (June 15, 2020) Social Media Use and Its Connection to Mental Health: A Systematic Review. Cureus 12(6): e8627. DOI 10.7759/cureus.8627

Lobb, J. “Digital Wellness.” Oct. 2022. Live Healthy Live Well blogsite of the Ohio State University. https://livehealthyosu.com/2022/10/17/digital-wellness/

Digital Wellness

an open laptop with a screen that reads "reset"

Recently, The Ohio State University added Digital Wellness to its Dimensions of Wellness to join the existing nine dimensions: career, creative, emotional, environmental, financial, intellectual, physical, social and spiritual wellness. Although each of these dimensions is separately named, it’s important to recognize that they overlap and are interconnected. All the dimensions contribute to one’s overall sense of well-being. If someone is not digitally well, for example, their behavior could impact their physical, social, and emotional wellness.  

According to the OSU Office of Student Life, “a digitally well person considers the impact of virtual presence and use of technology on their overall well-being by taking steps to create sustainable habits that support their values, goals, community, and safety.” One way to do this is to set healthy boundaries and limits around your use of technology and screentime. Consider the following question: most days, do you feel like you are in control of technology, or is technology in control of you? If you would like to take action and set more healthy parameters around your technology use, the OSU Chief Wellness Officer offers the following steps to move toward digital wellness:

  • Set limits on screen time. You can track your screen time through the settings of many devices or by using an app designed for that purpose.
  • Stay grounded and connected. Take time to disconnect from devices and connect with others “in real life”.
  • Show your best self. Before posting on social media, think about whether the content is hurtful or appropriate for yourself or others. 
  • Avoid Zoom fatigue. Take “camera off” breaks and stand up whenever possible.

Our OSU Extension Live Healthy, Live Well team has been talking about digital wellness for the past couple of years. If you are already practicing these behaviors or are looking to learn more, check out our articles on:

Digital Minimalism – defined as “a philosophy of technology use in which you focus your online time on a small number of activities that strongly support the things that you value, and then happily miss out on everything else”.

Digital Decluttering – much like a gardener regularly checks on and weeds their garden space, take the time to regularly stop and reflect on how your technology use contributes to your overall well-being and helps you to enjoy and find meaning in your social media use.

Digital Detoxing – regular, intentional unplugging to reap the benefits of technology while minimizing its harms.

However you practice or refer to digital wellness, take time today to assess how you use technology in your personal and professional life and how it contributes to your overall well-being, whether positively or negatively.

Written by Jenny Lobb, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, OSU Extension Franklin County

Reviewed by Amanda Bohlen, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, OSU Extension Washington County

Sources:

Melnyk, B. M. & Carson, M. (2022). A guide to conquering the digital world. Ohio State Alumni Magazine. https://alumnimagazine.osu.edu/story/digital-world-wellness

The Ohio State University Office of Student Life (2022). Digital Wellness. https://swc.osu.edu/wellness-education-and-resources/ten-dimensions-of-wellness/digital-wellness

Thinking Outside the Box

a gift-wrapped box

With the holiday season comes gift-giving to our young people. Often, the gift box contains new technology for our teens and even younger children. The device could be a first cell phone, tablet, or even a laptop. When our young people exhaust playing with toys, we default to technology as the next level of gifts. My children are young adults now, but I can remember back to the iPod, laptops, Nintendo DS, Wii, and smartphones opened from the boxes at Christmas. For my son, we waited until 13 for his first phone, but for my daughter, we surprised her a year early at 12. As adults, we were in control, and we decided when they would get access. However, looking back, I would have delayed gifting some technology until later. 

It does not have control when it is in the box, but once you open Pandora’s technology box, devices can control a person. It is hard enough as adults to have the willpower to set down our devices. Young people struggle even more without fully developed will-power or self-regulation. Healthy boundaries are good to provide and can benefit children’s mental health. Setting technology boundaries before a device is out of the box or turned on for the first time is the best practice.

Some best practices include setting up data limits. If the data runs out, they can still use the device as a phone or in Wi-Fi, but they have just exhausted their “connected time”. Most phones now come with a screen time feature that limits time on certain apps, at certain times of the day, or which apps can be downloaded. Use these features to help enforce the guidelines, but do not depend on them alone. The Internet is a dangerous playground for youth to access unsupervised. Set restrictions on which types of websites they can visit and ensure all Internet use is done in public spaces.

Phones also have helpful features, like knowing your children’s location or contacting them after school. Some educational apps will help youth study and learn about different topics. Show your youth how they can be content creators rather than just consumers. Many apps teach youth coding to create the app versus just consuming the app. Ohio 4-H just launched a program called Clovers CODE, which helps youth in 4-H learn to create apps and the code behind the app.

Modeling guidelines is also important. If your family rule is no phones in bedrooms, then have a family charging station in a central place in the home. Introduce a “no phones at dinner time” rule and abide by that. Show your children that immediate responses to their friends are not urgent and can wait by delaying your own replies. And instead of spending time on devices, enjoy time together this holiday playing family games.

As you wrap up all your boxes this holiday season, do not forget to think outside the box and set your family boundaries before the technology is gifted to your children.

Written by Mark D. Light, Ph.D., Leader, Ohio 4-H STEM & Digital Engagement Innovations

Reviewed by Jenny Lobb, MPH, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, Ohio State University Extension Franklin County

References:

Abi-Jaoude, E., Naylor, K. T., & Pignatiello, A. (2020). Smartphones, social media use and youth mental health. Canadian Medical Associaton Journal, 192(6), E136-E141. https://www.cmaj.ca/content/192/6/E136

Dempsey, S., Lyons, S., & McCoy, S. (2019). Later is better: Mobile phone ownership and child academic development. Economic and Social Research Institute. http://aei.pitt.edu/101971/1/RB201903_01.pdf

Wiles, B. B., Schachtner, L., & Pentz, J. L. (2016). The New Screen Time: Computers, Tablets, and Smartphones Enter the Equation. Journal of Extension, 54(2), 10. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/joe/vol54/iss2/10/