Note to Self

Note to Self



Note to Self
An Illustrated Self-care Guide
to Using Instagram

CHANNON LEATHLEY



6 Contents 42

Introduction 22 Conclusion

Note to Self When…
FOMO Finds a Home

8 30 45

Note to Self When… Note to Self When… Meet The Characters
T heir Online Persona Is You Don’t Think You
46
Too Good to Be True Measure Up
Further Reading &
14 36 Acknowledgments

Note to Self When… Note to Self When…
E veryone Appears to Be You Do It For the ‘Gram

Happier Than You

Introduction

Note to Self is a book for you frequent Instagram users out there.
Especially those who may be feeling down about their time o n social
media. Research has shown that young adults who use social media,
especially photo and video-based platforms like Instagram, experience
changes in behaviour and eroded psychological well-being. Social
media has had a significant influence in how our society behaves, how
people perceive their lives in comparison to others, and can put a
damper on how people feel about themselves.

This project started with a simple thought – Why is Instagram
making me feel confused and dejected? More often than not I find
myself standing at a bus stop and I pull out my phone because god
forbid I spend seven minutes waiting and doing nothing. I open

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Instagram even though I don’t really want to, and w hen I close the app
I know I haven’t gained anything of value from that interaction.

Whether you read the whole book or only one page, I hope you
learn something about the effects Instagram can have on yours and
others well-being. Take some time to self-reflect on your Instagram
habits and your overall experience on the app. Use this book as a
self-care guide for your present and future self!

This book is organized into five Note to Self sections for when
you’re scrolling through Instagram, providing information and illustrated
self-care tips along the way. Each chapter ends with a quote from real
submissions people sent in when asked how Instagram has influenced
their mental health.

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Note To Self When...

Their Online Persona Seems
Too Good To Be True

Self-Presentation
Online

Social media platforms are a chance for users to edit themselves
to present as a certain type of person in front of peers and
strangers. We all want our friends, family, strangers, and
potential employers to see the very best version of ourselves —
even if it’s a stretch. T he ability to instantly edit an online profile
at any given time makes it impossible to understand what a
person is really like. Just remember, you only see what they
want you to see.

10

Be Authentic

Being genuine and unashamadley YOU can relieve stress
and pressure you may be putting put on yourself
to act or be perceived a certain way.

It’s not the whole picture

Remind yourself that you only see a tiny glimpse
of a person online, not the whole picture.

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Instagram is an addictive and unhealthy app that has the ability

to captivate me for hours. I trap myself in a “Rabbit Hole” of

Instagram memes and photos of people that seem to live lavishly.

I stalk celebrities and other social media influencers and this is

a destructive habit that I’ve come to realize. My self esteem is

often lowered and I find myself comparing almost everything such

as my lifestyle, my body, my clothes, and overall appearance to

those on Instagram. My depression and anxiety is triggered by my

comparative habits but it is something I am working on.

- Anonymous, 21 ”



Note To Self When...

Everyone Appears To Be
Happier Than You

Perceived Happiness

It’s easy to get sucked into thinking that everyone e lse is
happier and living cooler lives than you because people are
motivated to make positive self-presentations. The kind of
content we choose to post is often socially desirable because
nobody online cares about the mundane parts of our life.
Everyone wants t o look like they have their life together
(even if they don’t) and they’re having the best time living it.

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Face mask time! Practice self-care
Rub a dub dub

Spend quality time with family and friends!

18

Popcorn Quality relationships

Strong real-life relationships give us comfort,
support, and satisfaction in life.

(Re)discover your interests I am an ~artiste!~ Exercise

Mario Kart champ Gardening

20

I habitually check Instagram everyday and it became an everyday
thing since most of my friends and connections update their lives on
this specific social media platform. I have FOMO sometimes and as
a designer, I enjoy keeping up with current events, what people are
doing, and be a part of a community. Instagram is an outlet for me
to keep up to date with my community and express my personality
through posts. At one point in my life, I have felt that I must post
and follow people to gain attention on my account and post for the
purpose of getting likes. Because of that, it resulted in depression
because I was concealing my problems in real life by posting things
that makes me look happy.

- Anonymous, 22



Note To Self When...

FOMO Finds a Home

Fear of Missing Out

The Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), is a type of social anxiety that
occurs when we’re not connected with what others are doing
or posting on social media. The fear of missing out is such a
common feeling amongst Instagram users that almost every
submission I recieved mentioned FOMO.

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Notifications can make you feel like you have to drop everything Turn off notifications
you’re doing, no matter what you’re doing.

Turn off your notifications to give yourself some peace of mind.
You’ll be less inclined to constantly check what’s happening online.

Set a time limit for how long you decide
to use Instagram each day. Try and stick to your goal!

Beep! Beep!
Beep!

Set time limits

It can help to start with a longer time limit and work your way down
by 5 or 10 minute increments. For iPhone users, you can now monitor

and set time limits for apps in your ‘Screen Time’ settings.

Set intentions

Set intentions before you open Instagram.
Do what you intended to do then close the app.

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Stop your liking spree

Getting into the habit of liking every post you see
can keep you from leaving the app. Don’t get sucked into

a vortex of endless scrolling!

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Checking my Instagram is a daily routine; I open the app between
5-10 times a day. It’s beneficial in that it helps me keep connected
to people, but I can’t help but feel that my life is painfully mundane
compared to the people I follow. Sometimes I feel like my worth as
a human being is connected to how many likes I receive in a photo
or how many followers I have. I’m afraid to post often because I feel
that I won’t get enough likes and it’ll ruin my self-esteem. I tend to
only like the posts of people who like my posts back.

”-Andrew,21



Note To Self When...

You Think You Don’t
Measure Up

Social Comparison

The easiest trap we fall into on social media is comparing our
lifestyle, appearance, and everything else to those we see
living seemingly exciting lives on Instagram. It’s even easier
to compare yourself when Instagram’s discovery page always
seems to show you the exciting things other people are doing.

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YOU are in control of your feed! Don’t be afraid t o make use Clear the negativity
of the unfollow button if their content doesn’t make you feel good.

Alternatively, use the mute button - this hides the user’s posts
from y our feed without having to unfollow them.

Follow positive accounts

Now that you’ve cleared your feed of the bad, throw some positivity
into your feed! Follow accounts that make you feel good.

You could also consider accounts that post honest and relatable
messages if that’s what you want to see.

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I am not on Instagram as much as some other social media sites. I
think, for me, part of the reason for that is because whenever I’m
on it, I always feel like others’ lives are more “ perfect” than mine.
Like they’re somehow leading a better (and more photogenic) life
than me. As well, I think I see a lot of experiences my friends have,
and I always do feel a bit of FOMO, or like I’ve been left out. It just
sometimes makes me feel like I’m on the outside of all these lives
and all these wonderful experiences and places. Many Instagram
accounts/posts focus on makeup/ beauty, food, or travel, and while
it’s fun to see in a way, I think it’s also easy to get the feeling that you
don’t measure up —and maybe that you never can.

- Bella, 23



Note To Self When...

You Do It For the ‘Gram

Do It For the ‘Gram

You’re going out to a concert or party with your friends and
you pull out your phone to capture the moment. Not because
you want to, but it’s more like you need everyone to know
you actually have an exciting life. Sound familiar? Nowadays,
taking photos to post on social media is what the substance
of the experience has become, not the experience itself.

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Reflect before you post

Before you post, reflect on why you are posting.
Reflecting can help you filter out the less important things

and help you use Instagram more consciously.

Something to say

Post when you have something to say, rather than trying to post
frequently to stay on others’ Instagram feed.

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Sometimes when I go onto Instagram and I see all these people

around my age having a good time and just being stress free

I feel a little envious. I’m constantly having to work weekdays

and weekends to make ends meet and seeing people of my

age just being so carefree and not having to worry about

life makes me a little envious. I’ve had to unfollow a few

friends in the past due to the fact that their posts have made

me feel just so sad and shitty about my own situation.

- Anonymous, 23 ”

Conclusion

As we come to the end of this book, the first thing y ou can
do to take care of yourself is to be aware of your thought
patterns. Make note of what kinds of posts trigger your
negative thoughts. Weather you plan to make small changes
for a more positive social media experience or you want to
quit social media all together! Use the self-care tips you’ve
learned from this book and adapt them to what’s best for you.

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I tend to avoid party or fitness accounts — anything that exhibits an
exuberant or rich lifestyle, as post[s] like that may just make me feel
left out or less beautiful or insecure with my body. Therefore, I try to
fill my feed with body positive accounts or according to my interests
such as hair and beauty blogs or celebrity accounts. I also use
Instagram to keep me in touch with current events by following news
or social justice accounts. I spend about an hour or two on the app
each day scrolling through my feed or suggested posts, I only tend to
comment on any posts or add photos to my account sparingly every
few months. I’m a very passive player on the platform but I find it
can be very educational, entertaining and on average has a neutral
to positive impact on my life and mental health.

- Brianna, 21

Share on social media to spread the word

visit www.notetoself.com to download

To help others and raise awareness about the e ffects social media
can have o n users, visit www.notetoself.com for more information.
Download sharable graphics and spread the word using #NoteToSelf

44

periwinkle Follow

157 posts 180 followers 36 following

Periwinkle the Peacock

Film junkie with a love for popcorn...
Don’t try and be anyone else, you do you. Be kind and
embrace the things that make you unique.

oakleytheowl Follow

48 posts 112 followers 80 following
Oakley the Owl

Practicing self-care on the daily. I love face masks

and taking care of my plants

blakey Follow

208 posts 195 followers 173 following
Blake the Bat

Taking a social media break
Probably sleeping right now

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Further Reading

Bono, T. (2018). When likes aren’t enough: A crash course in the science of happiness.
New York: Grand Central Life & Style.

Freitas, D. (2017). The happiness effect: How social media is driving a generation to appear
perfect at any cost. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Lup, K., Trub, L., & Rosenthal, L. (2015). Instagram pass:[#]Instasad?: Exploring Associations
Among Instagram Use, Depressive Symptoms, Negative Social Comparison, and
Strangers Followed. CyberPsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, 18(5), 247–252.
https://doi-org.library.sheridanc.on.ca/10.1089/cyber.2014.0560

Robson, Thomas (2018). “Fear of Missing Out – An Essential Correlate of Social
Networking Site Addiction,” American Journal of Medical Research 5(1): 85–90.

Sherlock, M., & Wagstaff, D. L. (2018). Exploring the relationship between frequency of
Instagram use, exposure to idealized images, and psychological well-being in women.
Psychology of Popular Media Culture.
https://doi-org.library.sheridanc.on.ca/10.1037/ppm0000182

Strickland, Amelia. (2014). Exploring the Effects of Social Media Use on the Mental Health
of Young Adults. HIM 1990-2015.1684. http://stars.library.ucf.edu/honorsthe
ses1990-2015/1684

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Acknowledgments

Designing an illustrated book seemed fun yet daunting at first, I’ve never made
one before! I’ve had such a great time illustrating and writing this book, but I
couldn’t have done it without some help along the way.

I have to start by thanking my amazing design prof Reneé Alleyn for her
support and guidance that made this book possible.

Thank you to everyone that was brave enough to submit responses in reply
to my Call for Submissions. Your realities made this book extra special and has
allowed others to feel comforted in the common struggles we share.

Finally, to the authors and scholarly researchers out there whose sources
taught me about the relationship between social media and well-being, and the
many positivity accounts on Instagram that gave me inspiration.

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