You’ll hear a lot of people say that social media is bad for you.

However, there are some great ways that you can use social media safely and healthily.

Here are some of our suggestions on how to make sure social media works well for you.

Get Creative

Social media is a great way to show everyone where your creative passion lies. It could be photography, or animation, or writing.

Whatever you are interested in, why not come up with a regular creative project that you could share with people. You could start a blog or a YouTube channel on your favourite subject.

Or maybe take a photo each day on something that made you happy?

It could be as simple as sharing other people’s creativity with those you are connected to. Post a link to your favourite animation or painting. Let others be inspired by them in the same way you are.

Social media is a creative place – get involved!

Use Social Media – Don’t Let It Use You

Do you remember why you signed up for social media in the first place?

There is so much to do on social media, sometimes it’s easy to end up doing lots of it. Maybe you’re chatting to people about your favourite band. Or playing games. Or watching live streams.

All of that can be great fun. But it can also mean you might have people disagreeing with you. Or feel like you need to play every day. Or that you are watching too much.

If you’re finding that social media is starting to get you down, take some time out from it. Then when you come back, remind yourself what you enjoyed about it at the beginning, and try to get back to that. You don’t have to do everything.

Get Active

Did you know that there are groups on Facebook who share the physical activities they do? Some of them are local clubs that you may be able to sign up to.

Others are groups where you can talk and share about the exercise that you like to do. And maybe even be a little competitive with each other.

If you want to get active, or if you are looking for others to help you train, it’s a great place to start.

Learn Something New

Learning something new doesn’t have to feel like school. You can choose to do something that you enjoy, and pick up or perfect your skills.

If you like drawing for example, some illustrators and artists do online sessions where you can watch them draw live.

You could learn British Sign Language or even go on virtual tours of places like museums. Some zoos and safari parks have webcams so you can watch the animals and learn about them.

Search for what you want to do and see what you can find.

Unfollow Negative Accounts

People can often be very negative on social media. They complain about things, or disagree with everyone. Sometimes they can even bully the people they are speaking to.

If you find someone is getting too much for you, the easiest thing to do is to stop following their account. You don’t have to tell them you’ve done it. But it will make you feel better in the long run.

Don’t Be A Jerk

The same is true for how you use social media. If you’ve had a bad day or are angry about something, you can sometimes say something you don’t mean to.

You may not even realise you are doing it. Our emotions can stop us seeing how we are treating others.

But stop and think before you post – could someone be getting hurt by what I am saying? Or could someone take it the wrong way?