Bored Panda reached out to redditor Zaza9000, the head moderator of the r/Instagramreality subreddit, to get their take on social media use and photo-editing use during the pandemic.

According to the moderator, people are “most definitely seeking online entertainment like never before,” as many are still stuck working from home, as the Covid-19 pandemic continues. What’s more, lockdowns are returning in some form or another in some countries like Latvia and cities like Hobart in Australia. It’s natural that people isolating spend more time online and on their social media feeds.

“Engagement platforms like Reddit, Twitter, and Tik-Tok are our era of modern renaissance where a lot of music, DIY, entertainment, self-rediscovery, and art is being produced,” the moderator told Bored Panda that despite some of the major drawbacks of the internet, it’s still a wonderful place to let your creativity loose.

We were also interested to get Zaza9000’s opinion about how the pandemic, the lockdowns, and the constant anxiety many people have been feeling has affected social media and whether there’s been an increase or a decrease in heavily photo-edited pics. However, the moderator believes that this isn’t such an easy question to answer.

In the moderator’s opinion, there’s no clear-cut answer about the effect the lockdowns have had on our likelihood to (not) photo-edit our pics. It’s possible to see things in two different ways. “That's definitely a mixed question of yes and no,” they said.

“There has been a saying that everyone's been gaining the ‘Quarantine 15’ and that might encourage people to edit more,” the moderator shared their thoughts, referring to the idea that a lot of people have gained some weight when they switched to a more sedentary lifestyle due to Covid-19.

“At the same time, since we've all been home, self-care has been a hot topic,” they noted that some people have been becoming far more genuine and open about their real looks online. They added that they’d personally encourage people to follow this path.

Earlier, Nuno Albuquerque, the Head of Treatment at the UK Addiction Treatment Group, went into detail with Bored Panda about social media addiction.

"A person can be addicted to anything, but they are only suffering an addiction if whatever it is they are 'using' has taken over their lives, and that they as individuals have lost the power of choice, i.e. that they cannot, regardless of how much they want to, stop 'using'. This is the effect that addiction has, it robs the individual of the ability to stop,” Nuno explained.

“Even if that individual is aware of the negative physical, psychological, or financial consequences, they still cannot stop. It is essential to not use the word 'addiction' flippantly; if a person is addicted, then they are in need of professional help and support," Nuno said that nobody should use the word ‘addiction’ without understanding the seriousness of the term.

Nuno from the UKAT Group told Bored Panda that the Covid-19 lockdowns made people spend far more time online and on social media than before.

"We would say that it is more than likely that society as a whole spent more time on social media and other internet-based platforms during the Covid-19 lockdowns than before, simply because for many, their normal day to day life was turned upside down, or even stopped altogether, and so a lot of people found they had more spare time on their hands,” he noted.

“Some people turned to social media during the lockdown to stay connected with others, which is really important and actually a healthy approach to take. Where it starts to negatively affect a person is when being on social media consumes them completely, and they no longer want to be present in their actual 'offline' day."

According to the mental health expert, every individual has a unique line separating normal behavior and addiction: it all depends on our unique circumstances and personalities. The essence of the question lies in whether or not the person still has the power of choice or if they’ve lost it.

"If the person cannot undertake their regular day to day routine without being on social media or needing to get back to being on social media, as in they have potentially developed not only a psychological desire to be online but also physical urges begin as well, then there could well be an addiction there," Nuno warned.

"An unhealthy relationship with social media could also be recognized if the individual develops mental health illness from being online, for example, feelings of anxiety or depression arising during or after being on social media. Similarly, for some people we have treated at our UK Addiction Treatment Centres, being on social media is a trigger for them to then misuse drugs or alcohol. During therapy, we address why a person drinks alcohol or misuses drugs, and for some, it is because of their unhealthy relationship with social media," the mental health expert went into detail.

"The most important piece of advice we can give is to be mindful and aware; check in with yourself during and after time spent on social media, ask yourself how do you feel? Can you now switch off and get on with your day? Any negative feelings or inability to move on from being online should be a red flag.”