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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Mass Amherst chapter.

Self-care has been around for a long time, but has it always been this popular? The number of people being seen doing their skincare routine, exercising, or eating healthier is becoming more prevalent. This is because social media inspires people to post about their healthy and stress-free lifestyles. 

What is Self-care?

Self-care is doing things to take care of our minds, bodies, and souls by engaging in activities that promote well-being and reduce stress.

Some examples include…

  • Reading
  • Walking
  • Painting
  • Meditation
  • Yoga
  • Getting more sleep
  • Listening to music
  • Watching TV
  • Playing a sport

How Did Social Media Influence The Self-care lifestyle?

The most common thing about social media is posting and sharing! Although this generation is open about sharing the raw and ugly, the idea to look put together and having a “clean” aesthetic is always trending. There are many videos on social media platforms on targeting ways to have the ideal lifestyle. Whether that’s getting up at 6:00 a.m. to do yoga and make a breakfast smoothie, or cleaning out your old wardrobe and trying out new clothes.

This whole idea of taking care of yourself has never been more common because people are able to share their thoughts and feelings on a whole different level since the creation of social media. People can see someone’s Tweets about their feelings or thoughts, and most of the time they can relate to them. Nowadays, everything is accessible, and that can include your ideas, feelings, and thoughts. This changed from the ways of holding it in and not saying anything to now expressing your emotions and being vulnerable. Eventually, physical health became a focus as well. People started posting about healthy alternatives, workout routines, what to eat and what not to, etc. There have also been influencers on social media posting about their life and their routines that inspire people to do the same. The power of sharing has a big impact on what people should or should not do.

Does Social Media have a positive or a negative influence on self-care?

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Original Illustration by Sketchify in Canva

I believe social media can have both a positive and a negative influence on self-care. From social media, I see more people are starting to prioritize themselves and find ways that genuinely make them healthy and happy. However, it can also make people feel that they have to do a certain thing in order to have that self-care lifestyle. I feel that most self-care videos are all about waking up early, working out, doing your makeup, and doing your skincare routine. Yet, self-care is very versatile, but social media shows the general idea of it. Therefore, people could feel left out or that nothing can make them happy. It definitely shows that finding your own self-care routine is a journey, and what works for you, works for you. 

Social media is a powerful tool that can do many things. However, the main thing it can do is spread awareness and influence change. The self-care lifestyle is just one of the things that social media can make influential.

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Amanda Chung

U Mass Amherst '26

Hi! I’m a member of UMass Amherst’s HC, and I’m just spreading my ideas and having fun! :)