Social media is both a blessing and a curse – A statement that is easy to agree with. As a millennial, I often find myself aimlessly scrolling through one of social media feeds. Starting with MySpace in middle school, I saw social media have a negative impact on my mood and perception of others. It seems silly, but just seeing a photo and reading a caption can bring about many negative emotions – Feeling left out, jealousy, alone.
In college I made a concerted effort to clean up my social media feed for my own well-being. At the time, this meant unfollowing several people that I considered my friends, but often made me feel excluded, dissatisfied with my lifestyle, envious of their relationships, or unhappy with my appearance.
Millennial women be warned: Many Instagram users utilize a third-party app that notifies them when they are unfollowed. I caused some temporary rifts with several girls that I considered my friends solely based on the fact that I unfollowed their social media account. This seems ridiculous, but I had to explain to them why I made this decision.
I’m a big advocate of curating your own content to the best of your ability. For the most part, you pick and choose your physical surroundings. For your “digital surroundings” you have even more freedom to hand select what you want to see and what you don’t want to see.
Some of my favorite Instagram accounts that inspire me professionally are:
- Alyssa Julya Smith – One of my favorite Cheddar anchors. Her Instagram story updates motivate me to hustle – This woman is always on the go. During the week her content shares with her audience different stories she is covering – Anywhere from a studio interview with a CEO, a tour of a cannabis facility, or sampling Taco Bell’s secret menu items.
- Bozoma Saint John – Uber’s Chief Brand Officer whose Instagram handle couldn’t be more fitting (@badassboz). I was led to her profile while watching live feeds of this year’s SXSW festival in Austin. Her bio made me fall in love immediately:
There’s nothing more badass than being who you are… I am a force of nature in fierce stilettos
Ladies, if this doesn’t get you hyped up I don’t know what will. Her posts reflect her bio – Bold outfits, #MondayMotivation, career updates.
- Sara Blakely – THE inventor of our beloved Spanx. This woman hustles – Not only does she run her business, she raises her 4 children. Her content is always very honest – She’ll show her “before makeup” face to anyone who asks and shamelessly shows her followers all of her guilty pleasures and flaws (i.e. airplane junk food necessities, overdue hair roots, etc.)
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