{"id":113,"date":"2017-01-02T15:55:32","date_gmt":"2017-01-02T15:55:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/amy-janehughes\/?p=113"},"modified":"2017-01-21T20:00:59","modified_gmt":"2017-01-21T20:00:59","slug":"new-year-5-steps-breaking-instagram-cycle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/amy-janehughes\/new-year-5-steps-breaking-instagram-cycle\/","title":{"rendered":"New Year, New You: 5 Steps to breaking the Instagram Cycle"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s been a while since I’ve lasted posted, but Happy New Year! It’s 2017 already. The last few weeks have been spent with family and friends and\u00a0loads\u00a0<\/strong>of food and drink, but now is the time you’ll all be thinking of resolutions. Little goals you set yourself to make yourself\u00a0better.\u00a0<\/em>Go to the gym more. Lose a bit of weight. Give up\u00a0smoking, maybe. Most people focus on ways they can improve their appearance, but I’ve got a suggestion…how about trying to focus on your appearance less?<\/p>\n

I know that probably sounds like an impossible task but hear me out. I’m not saying get rid of all the mirrors in your house\u00a0and\u00a0throw away all your make up. I mean stop worrying about how you look on social media. Instagram, mainly. As a photo sharing platform, it’s all about how things look. And with filters and editing tools in abundance, we all spend far more time that we’d like to admit altering our photos to make them “perfect.”<\/p>\n

Instagram is one of the worst social networks for self esteem<\/a> because we are faced with millions of perfectly filtered photos which we only compare ourselves too and try to compete with.\u00a0I’ve come up with 5\u00a0steps which can help you fight this and become a happier, more confident and self-loving person in 2017.<\/p>\n

Step 1: Admit It<\/h4>\n

Obviously the first step is to admit that Instagram makes you sad. Not all the time, but sometimes.\u00a0Scrolling through your feed sometimes makes you feel a bit bad about yourself, like you’re failing somehow. You’re not as pretty\u00a0as the people you follow. Or your life isn’t as exciting as theirs. Admitting this is the first step to breaking the Instagram cycle.<\/p>\n

Step 2: Take a Fresh Look<\/h4>\n

So, you’ve realised that Instagram can actually be quite shit sometimes. Now what? Well, with this new perspective, take another look at your feed. Look at the posts which would\u00a0knock your self-esteem a bit and ask yourself “how\u00a0posed\/edited\/filtered is this?” Because I would say 99% of the time, each post has at least one edit made to it. Or Kylie Jenner has put on her bikini and got her assistant to take a photo of her even though it’s\u00a0freezing<\/em> outside (I mean, where’s the sun?)<\/p>\n

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