I Made a Podcast!

 Click here to listen.

This week for a class assignment, I was tasked with creating a podcast on an issue with social media. I chose to discuss how social media is affecting our mental health with examples from Olivia Rodrigo’s new song “Jealousy, Jealousy,” actions being taken by well known brands such as Dove and what you can do to combat the mental effects you might be experiencing.

This project was super fun! Personally, I wrote myself out a full script as I knew I would stumble on what I wanted to say. I’m now curious if podcaster’s script out what they say or if it comes more naturally to them. 

What sparked discussion on this topic was actually Olivia Rodrigo’s song. The lyrics speak loudly and are highly relatable. The specific lyrics that I brought up in the podcast were: 

“I kinda wanna throw my phone across the room

'Cause all I see are girls too good to be true

With paper-white teeth and perfect bodies”

While these were not the only lyrics that depicted the effect of social media on our mental health, they gave a specific example of how social media results in body image negativity and jealousy towards the life others are living. Additionally, I discussed how “the unfortunate thing is that while everyone wants to not be jealous of someone else, they post as if they want people to be jealous of them- doing whatever it takes to get the most likes.” This concept is what drives Rodrigo’s song. 

Another part of the podcast is the mention of how brands are starting to change to show body positivity in their models and branding. A step that Dove first took in 2015 with their Real Beauty campaign. Now Dove is specifically targeting how social media kills girls’ self-esteem with their Self-Esteem project that uses the example of a reverse selfie- showing how different the person is from the image. 

Finally, I discussed a few ways to combat social media negativity that can be useful cross-platform, but still potentially challenging at first. 

I hope you tune into the podcast and consider what effects social media may have on your mental health. And remember: “Their win is not my loss” -Olivia Rodrigo, “Jealousy, Jealousy”