What Sophie Said

I’ve got a bad habit when it comes to the online world. I’m a hoarder. I’ve spoken before about my relationship to excess ‘stuff’. I think my online life is the same. We look at so much regularly – various social media accounts, email accounts and websites – via laptops, phones, tablets… There’s so much information and entertainment out there, how do you know when to stop? There’s so much to consume and to learn and to read. I’m a serial bookmarker. Pressing that little star at the top of the browser is so easy. I’ve got so many things to read later. And the list build and builds. Every now and then I have to set aside actual time to go through and digest some of the things I’ve been saving. The problem is, there are some really great things on the internet. So many articles, recipes, so much advice, so many ideas. I subscribe to the newsletters of so many amazing people, all of whom share the work of other amazing people. So...

Last week, I spoke to Felicity at BBC Newsbeat on the topic of mental health and social media. Her post (which is fantastic and can be read HERE ) got me thinking on the topic and my story a little more. The article summarised my own experience: when I first started to see the symptoms of my anxiety when I was at university, I had no idea what it was. It was through reading blogs and reading what people were saying on social media what I learned more about it, got the courage to see my GP, and learned it was ok to talk to my friends and family about it. I learned it was ok to talk, and ok to need some help. Since speaking to Felicity, this idea has been stuck in my head so I thought I’d write a bit of a follow-up on exactly how social media helped me. As I said, it was at university that my anxiety began to take on a big role in my life, and began to have a big effect. It was also during university that I completely fell for the world of blogging and social media. I was qu...

A couple of years ago, I deleted a LOT of people from Facebook. Well, I ‘unfriended’ them. When you first get Facebook, which for me was at school, it becomes all about how many ‘friends’ you have, and about immediately connecting with everyone you meet. Then you start university, and that game starts all over again. The problem is, the majority of those people you just don’t care about. It’s not that I wish ill on any of them, but I just don’t need to know every detail of their lives. The new rule is, if I wouldn’t stop for a chat in the street, or drop them a message to catch up, I don’t need to be a Facebook friend. I think that became even more clear for me when I got into Twitter. Twitter is more about connecting publicly with a wide range of people, who share your interests. In contrast, I see Facebook as much more private, a space to share photos and messages with ‘real life’ friends. I’m not too strict, and there are people in my ‘friend’ list that I’ve not caught up with ...