Where does social media pressure come from, and how can you cope? When you see posts of others traveling abroad, falling in love or shining in their careers, you unconsciously compare yourself, notice your shortcomings, and pressure builds. Utsudo admits that even veteran writers can be overwhelmed by these feelings. She reminds newcomers to treat writing as a long-distance race and build solid foundations rather than rushing to fame. If you truly can’t cope, temporarily log off social media and cut down on phone time.

Translated from Utsudo’s original Chinese column.

Scrolling social media brings pressure too

I’m sure many people like scrolling social media in their free time to see what’s new. For me, scrolling is fun, sure, but it also comes with a fair amount of pressure.

Why pressure? Because when I see everyone’s posts about their lives—traveling abroad, getting a boyfriend or girlfriend, happy group photos with friends—I’m constantly reminded how colorful everyone’s lives are. At the same time, I also see people in my field or other industries sharing good news, like publishing a new book, hitting the charts or getting a film or TV adaptation.

But what does their good news have to do with me? It may not sound very gracious, but honestly, seeing them shine in their fields makes me envious, and a bit anxious and insecure too. When I look back at myself, I feel like I haven’t made much progress. Everyone else is so amazing—what am I even doing QQ

Pressure comes from unconscious comparison

It’s because I subconsciously “compare” my situation with everyone else’s and notice my shortcomings that I feel pressure.

But I know this mindset isn’t healthy, because the tendency to “compare” comes from a lack of self-confidence. When I feel pressure, I try to sort through my emotions and tell myself, “You should congratulate them with a more generous heart, and you’ve already worked hard.” That eases the imbalance a bit, but it doesn’t always work.

Sometimes negative emotions still overwhelm me. I suddenly want to curl up in a corner, think I’m worse than everyone at everything, and sink into a gloomy mood… I think most people have had this experience to some degree, so that day I held a livestream on this topic to exchange thoughts with everyone.

Veterans feel this way too

Of course, I didn’t hold the livestream to spread negativity, but to talk about how to handle these feelings when they creep in—and to let every creator know they’re not the only one who feels this way. Knowing everyone has similar experiences should make you feel steadier!

I also wanted to tell everyone that even a veteran like me can’t avoid these feelings. So as a newcomer, you should go easier on yourself: treat writing as a marathon and move forward at your own pace.

Don’t rush to become famous right away. Build your foundations and grow little by little—I think that’s the best way!

When you can’t cope, log off social media first

Of course, if you find you can’t manage your emotions, the best solution is still to log off social media for a while, cut down on phone time as much as possible, avoid things that drain you, and pour your energy into creating and building your skills.

Someday, it’ll be your turn to post good news online!

FAQ

Further reading

• Previous: Hey! I Heard You’re a Writer on Ghost Island #248: A Modern Writer’s Strategy Guide
• Start from the beginning: Hey! I Heard You’re a Writer on Ghost Island #01: Utsudo’s Debut — A Road to the Dream Covered in Frost
• Utsudo’s books

About the author

Utsudo is a Taiwanese light novelist and novelist VTuber with more than ten years in the industry and 40 commercially published print books. Her novel 《遺失的情書》 received a 2022 Ministry of Culture youth creative award. The 《嘿！聽說妳在鬼島當作家》 series records her experiences as a novelist in Taiwan.