“Now is not the time to be boastful”: Scarlett Moffatt on why we need to keep it real on social media

Scrolling through social media during this pandemic can be a risky thing: while it can keep you connected with faraway friends and family, it can also make you feel pretty horrible.

Take this tweet, which preaches that if you haven’t come out of quarantine with a new business idea or skill then “you didn’t ever lack the time, you lacked the discipline”.

One person who has had enough of smug social media posts is TV presenter Scarlett Moffatt. Speaking on White Wine Question Time, she said this is not the time to be self-applauding on social media.

“Let's just not sort of rub grandeur in people's faces,” she told podcast host Kate Thornton.

READ MORE: 'I still message Caroline Flack’: Scarlett Moffatt reveals her social media heartache

She continued: “Now is not the time to be boastful or 'Instagrammy' in a way. I feel like Instagram is meant to be showing the best version of you and things that are aesthetically pleasing – but I think right now, just being happy and smiley is like what we need.”

Scarlett also said that she’s decided to unfollow some people on Instagram as their posts haven’t been good for her mental health.

When asked what kind of thing was upsetting her, Scarlett replied: “Things about 'don't eat this' and 'don't eat that’… If people want to eat a few carbs, I don't think now's the time to be beating themselves up about it.”

One of Scarlett’s main concern is with those people who are telling us we’ve all got to make the most out of quarantine and learn a new skill. She says just surviving is quite enough at the time being.

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“That we have to come out of this sort of self-isolation two stone lighter,” she said to Kate. “That you've got a new business venture, that you can now play an instrument. If you do all those things, that's also amazing. Equally if you just sort of brush your teeth and your hair and watch Tiger King that's also fine!”

While Scarlett, who has been doing yoga every day, says exercise is important for our mental health, she says we need to take it easy on ourselves.

The former Gogglebox star said: “As like as long as you're doing a bit of exercise each day, I think right now it's more about mental health.”

Hear Scarlett Moffatt talk about life in lockdown and how living with an African tribe prepared her for it, on the latest episode of White Wine Question Time. Listen now on iTunes and Spotify.