I thought I had a healthy approach to influencing – then The Social Dilemma gave me the reality check I needed

The tools we rely on to stay connected can be incredibly powerful and effective, but only if we know when to step back

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For many content creators, lockdown was a period of heightened productivity. From filming new content to dreaming up unique infographics, it was a new opportunity to get creative. But as time went on, I and many others started to experience sudden surges of anxiety, resorting to the standard millennial procedure of deleting social media apps for a short period, only to re-install them a couple of days later.  

Since the emergence of this new normal, the emotional exhaustion has continued to come in waves. What I now realise is that this is neither random nor unique, it’s symptomatic of a larger collective experience impacting content creators and their wellbeing: digital burnout. While burnout is by no means a new phenomenon, what makes digital burnout so insidious is that we do not yet know the true extent of its impact on mental health.  

Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma made its debut last week and has already provoked a wave of discussions around these issues. Among other mind-blowing revelations, perhaps the most intriguing was its exposure of the refresh feature on Instagram, which, rather sinisterly, operates via a positive reinforcement mechanism so the infinite content available to us demands us to remain in the loop.  

The endless sense of urgency to constantly be producing and looking towards our next achievement can become overwhelming. As book influencer Hena Bryan told me about her own experiences with social media: “I would find myself in a manic-anxious cycle of producing content on a weekly basis to ensure my platform kept ‘growing.’ This led to heightened anxiety, with periodic deactivation, which is unsustainable and halts your growth.”  

In a capitalist world where we are taught that our worth is inherently dependent on what we produce, lockdown proved to up the pressure in full force. Social media has exposed us to a whole new arena of labour, and with content creation becoming a viable stream of income in a precarious job market, many young people aren’t just trying to build a following, they have little choice not to.  

As consistency is key, we often feel we can’t take a break. As body positivity influencer Olimatta Taal told me: “Keep-up culture online means if you don’t post every day, you’re going to get left behind. That’s a massive challenge for me because even if I need to take a day off, I feel guilty for doing so.”

Many content creators find themselves constantly working but never feeling that it is enough. Kelechi Okafor, Creator of Say Your Mind podcast, finds this challenging too: “Seeing so many causes online, I’m often tempted to lend my voice to all of it when in reality this isn’t possible. To avoid burnout I adopt a laser-like focus on the causes that need my immediate support.”  

Tracking your engagement, comparing your work and doubting your abilities can trigger low self-esteem in digital creators. Beauty influencer Alice T is one of a number of influencers attempting to address what happens “when content creation becomes more than a hobby and eventually a source of income” and how “digital burnout occurs quicker than ever” because of it. She said: “Using engagement as a metric of success can be really tough on your self-image. I make sure I dedicate enough time to creating content I enjoy making outside of paid work to remind myself why I started.”  

Taking time to rest is often viewed as redundant, but we should pace ourselves and recuperate if we are to have a transformative impact on the issues we care about. Being an advocate of social justice online can make us feel we have to be present for every cause, due to our heightened accessibility to new information.  

Climate and anti-racism activist Mikaela Loach found that she could “feel guilty” for not using her phone because she felt she knew that having the luxury of switching off when it came to certain issues was “due to [her] privilege." 

“Also, as a Black woman, seeing social media filled with violence against Black people takes a toll on my mental health. I've found that taking weekends "off" from social media – like in a ‘normal’ job – has been really good for me,” she told me.

Social media can be an incredibly powerful and effective tool, but only if we know when to step back. Setting boundaries, whether in the form of time limits or notification restrictions, can help us focus on the task at hand and maintain a positive headspace.

Social media is still so new, and with record numbers of young people experiencing mental health issues, we must be aware that this lifestyle comes with risks like any other. Going forward, I will be setting more boundaries online so I can maintain a positive headspace, preserve my energy and continue doing the work that needs my presence. I hope others can find the strength to do the same.