It’s Mental Health Awareness Month! A month where many organizations bring into focus ways to improve mental health, both from a personal perspective and work towards bringing awareness and compassion to a subject that is, and was, often shamed. Mental Health Awareness month was first established in 1949, as Mental Health Week, evolving over the years encompass the entire month of May. While the scope of the program has increased the goal has remained the same: to showcase the facts around mental illness and to help break the stigma around speaking about them.
I’m sure you’re thinking “This is cool and all… but what’s that have to do with influencer marketing?” Well, maybe more than you think! Influencers are, and will continue to become, more and more common on social media platforms. Considering our connection with influencers, it is worth taking a moment to examine the impact of social media on all of us. And with the rise of digital platforms and more of our lives taking place online, more research has been devoted to understanding social media and our health overall.
Social media effect on mental health is especially a topic of focus. I’m sure you’ve heard or read about some of the ways social media has affected us. It’s being cited as one of the reasons Instagram is testing removing likes on posts and many prominent celebrities and influencers have had to step away from social media accounts due to the toll it took on their mental health.
Of course social media is not all bad and can have some positive effects. It can help reinforce ideas of self-love and worth, help destimagize illnesses, and offer a way to connect across large geographic distances to name a few. In fact, we connect with people from all over the world every day through our social media feeds. And recent studies suggest that the effects of social media on teens may be a little overblown.
But with the large number of articles and studies that come out every year talking about the effects of social media on our mental health, we wanted to take the time to also talk about it – in a real and honest way – for Mental Health Awareness Month. That includes talking about the negative effects but also showing the positive side of social media as well! And finally, we are going to jump-start a discussion on ways we can all do better – from influencers, to agencies, to brands, to consumers – with some with some suggestions of our own.
Through our efforts, we hope to forward the mission of Mental Health Awareness Month and provide relevant, useful information for everyone. And, let’s be honest, we all could use some tips on using social media in a healthier way.
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