As technology emerges in our daily lives, where all the social media platforms are part of our daily routine, our diary became online as well. We keep on posting and posting our day-to-day events on our accounts. You can easily see what’s going on in someone’s life by just going and scrolling through their social media accounts, indeed, social media is the modern diary.
Having and maintaining a private life is an opportunity for us to have more peace and unnecessary issues. As they used to say, there are certain things that we should keep private such as our financial situation, past resentments, our good deeds, our plans and future goals, the family drama, and even our beliefs.
Once you start to practise being private, you’ll notice the big changes. Something is refreshing in not sharing everything with everyone. There’s something good in sharing our happy memories and experiences with selected people we know cares about us.
It is not surprising to know that there are mental health benefits when we choose to be private. Here are some:
Comparison of our lives to others will be lessened
We may admit it or not, but the world of social media is a competition – there’s always a subtle competition between us and our followers. People tend to post selected details of their life the way others do it. Social media changes the way we see ourselves and the way we want to be seen by others.
Living in a moment
Capturing a moment is one way we cherish it but we sometimes tend to forget that there are more memories we can store if we start to shut our phones and enjoy what we have at the moment. Social media makes us connected to others who are far from us but it also makes us disconnected from others besides us.
Start savouring the moment without thinking and having the eagerness to capture a perfect photo to share on social media, savour it by dropping our phones for a while and enjoy the company that we have. Be more present and stop being distracted by our phones.
It will give you peace of mind and focus on yourself
Not knowing and not posting everything online will give you the focus you needed. Be guided that not everyone likes what you are posting and on the other hand, you also feel this way to some. Rather than seeing and posting what triggers your negative emotion, maintain a private life that will give peace and focus on your personal development.
A reminder for everyone that the internet is sometimes rude, mean, and toxic. It is very rare to find kindness in social media. It is easier for most people to show a negative attitude towards others than to be kind. We cannot blame them anyway. There are tons of scammers lurking around on the internet and we must protect ourselves in every possible way we can.
Always remember that whatever you are posting, there’s a possibility that you are creating your gossip, amplifying more drama, and you’ll care more about what people will say. The internet never forgets and the world of social media is a dangerous one, limiting what we are posting will keep us safe because we cannot trust everyone in the virtual world. Always remember that privacy is power.
Private life is a happy life. Not everything is meant to be shared. What people don’t know; they can’t ruin. What matters most is that we are happier in our life offline. A question for all of us to ponder is, why do we have to share a detail of our life?
Dina Relojo is the social media manager of Psychreg. She is a high school teacher from the Philippines.
