When asked to write a blog on the relationship between happiness and social media for International Day of Happiness, I knew it wouldn’t be pretty. But then I realised that maybe ‘pretty’ is exactly what we need to stop aiming for.
That’s why I agreed to speak out and tell those age-old stories of how effortlessly we fall victim to the dark side of the media. More importantly, it’s why I want to share how we finally reclaim the narrative.
Consuming the noise
The dark side of social media. The picture-perfect illusion. Oat matcha lattes, pilates princess, #GRWM. A twenty-photo dump of a wholesome February; another influencer sharing their ‘honest’ morning routine, meticulously staged to sell a version of ourselves we can never quite reach.
The messaging is ingrained: Skinny is back in. POV: You’re finally getting your body bikini-ready. Full cheeks are high cortisol, darling. We want our face to look snatched. Buccal fat, who is she? Here’s how to lose the puffy, moon face! Out with curves, in with 2002 heroin chic. Would you like a skinny detox tea to go with your self-loathing?!
This is the digital era. One minute, we’re being told to romanticise our lives with a £7 matcha latte, and the next, we’re being fed a curated diet of Instagrammable insecurity.
It’s the noise we hear as soon as we open that little gradient pink-purple-yellow square on our phones.
A relentless algorithm that knows our flaws before we even notice them ourselves.
Controlling the narrative
The irony of writing this for International Day of Happiness. I promise, there is a reason for I’m leaning into it.
Years of unlearning media-fed narratives we were all raised on and now I work at a PR agency, perhaps at the intersection of this noise. That journey of refusing to shrink has brought me into a career I love.
Today, I’m behind the curtain, helping schools, developers, and not-for-profit organisations find a way to cut through the noise and comparison. So, what have I unlearnt, what have I learnt, and how do we flip the script and contribute something real?
Here’s a PR girl’s honest thoughts.
The high cost of perfection and doomscrolling
I know I’m not alone, and I’m here with some statistics that prove our realities.
Recent 2026 figures from YouGov show that over 37% of UK adults feel social media has a broadly negative effect on their mental health. As for the younger generation, the pressure is more acute, with 70% of young people believing social media harms their mental health.
More specifically, over one in five adults say images on social media have caused them to worry about their body image – a figure that jumps to 40% among teenagers.
This pressure often manifests as ‘doomscrolling’; the habit of obsessively sinking into newsfeeds, often negative. We’ve all been there. Falling down a rabbit hole, drawn into the constant, quiet suggestion that you are just one product, one diet, or one life-changing ‘hack’ away from actual happiness.
Recent studies suggest that roughly 31% of adults doomscroll on a regular basis, a number that climbs to over 50% for Gen Z.
I know, I’m sounding like a buzzkill. Time for a more positive figure. There are a few reasons we all keep coming back to these platforms. And why I work in PR!
According to McKinsey, over half of us believe that self-expression and social connectivity are the best parts of being online. I’d agree, to an extent.
The truth is, social media isn’t a monolith of negativity. When used intentionally, it’s a powerful tool for interactions and connecting people. It can serve as a platform for voices that might go unheard, and a space for inspiration and education. It’s about how we choose to use it.
So, how do we shift from mindless consumption that drains us to a feed that serves our sanity, not our insecurities?
From doom scroll to joy scroll
As a PR professional, I’ve realised that disrupting the noise and rewriting the rules is my responsibility. Here’s how I help clients contribute something real.
- Influencing for the greater good
Before any post is shared, I ask: Does this inform, inspire, or add value? If it only serves to ‘shout’, I don’t post it.
Sometimes, this means moving away from a shiny, prospectus-ready look, and toward celebrating the joyful realities of a classroom.
For our housebuilders, it’s about moving past the CGI render to show an actual community being built.
- Humanising with user-generated content
We tell the stories that deserve to be told. The joy of residents finding their first home; the journey of a woman in construction breaking barriers on-site; the long-term legacy of sustainability projects that breathe new life into local ecosystem.
Think student-led tours, resident-shot ‘life in my new home’ clips, or spotlighting the success of a teacher behind the scenes. This shifts the focus to ‘people’.
- Promoting true diversity
The imagery and voices we amplify should reflect a healthy, honest spectrum of human experience. Not as a ‘token’ or performative gesture; true representation.
We tell our clients to uplift margianlised voices and feature a diverse range of people in every campaign or social media post. This might look like giving the spotlight to a wider range of people to speak out on important topics – or simply a social media feed that naturally reflects the multi-faceted communities they serve.
Whatever the content, we encourage our clients not to “post for the sake of it.” While national awareness days are helpful reminders often to promote inclusivity, you should do your research and share the stories that matter to your community. Diversity isn’t just a calendar event.
- Commit to true diversity
Inclusivity is also about accessibility. We try to make sure content is available to everyone, by:
Providing Alt Text on social media imagery.
Using Closed Captions for videos.
Stripping away unnecessary and replacing with simple language.
Navigating the ‘dark side’
For many education leaders and housebuilders, the fear of ‘trolls’ is real. We teach a strategic approach in our training sessions.
- Assess the tone: Before reacting, look at the profile. Are they a persistent troll, or is this someone who is genuinely unsatisfied?
- Promote positive first: The best way to prevent negativity is to flood the space with positivity. Sharing success stories rather than operational reminders makes it easier for people to engage happily.
- It’s the same lesson I’ve learnt personally: filling the space with genuine human achievement and behind-the-scenes vulnerability, you leave very little room for the toxicity of comparison. That’s the content I choose to “joyscroll” through, now – and it’s the kind of content that builds the right reputation for organisations like schools and housebuilders.
- Criticism as opportunity: View feedback as a chance for growth. Remain optimistic, because social media moves fast. Sometimes, it’s actually better to wait and assess.
- Don’t just delete: Deletion can inflame. Instead, use a transparent response strategy.
- And if it gets heavy, that’s where our Crisis Communications support comes in. Read more here: https://athene-communications.co.uk/our-approach/
What I’ve learned: A guide to purposeful posting
Sometimes we need to see the bad, to appreciate the good, and stars can’t shine without darkness. My own experiences with ‘the dark side of the scroll’ – the relentless comparing and the pressure of perfection – is what has helped me see clearly.
My past has taught me that we don’t have to be victims of the algorithm; we can be the architects of a better one. Here is my guide to purposeful posting:
- Prioritise purpose and add value over noise
- People trust vulnerability and realness
- Champion diversity and ethics
- Don’t be performative
- Engage with resilience
Reclaiming the narrative
From unlearning toxic beauty standards to managing the reputations of schools and housebuilders, I feel I owe it to my younger self to contribute meaningfully to the digital realm.
With my role comes responsibility. I have the power, however small, to change what people see when they open social media, whether it’s making a student feel seen, inspiring an aspiring teacher to take the leap into the classroom, or helping a family see a future in a new community.
By choosing sincerity over perfection and community over comparison, we’re moving towards communications that actually resonate with the people we serve.
And really, true happiness isn’t found in an Instagram filter. It’s found in the unscripted and raw and sometimes cruel and sad, but beautiful lives we lead away from the screen. There is so much more to life than the lens!
