With the current state of the world, and the upcoming election, it is so easy to feel overwhelmed by social media. Most times, I think social media are amazing. I don’t think we’re all doomed and technology will take over nor that humanity will be unrecognizable in 15 years. BUT because we are being constantly inundated with news and information and opinions, it is important to set some limits and be mindful of the media you are taking in. This article will walk through five easy ways to create a more positive relationship with your social media.
Unfollow, mute, and repeat
It wasn’t until about six months ago that I discovered I could unfollow people without the world ending. Unfollowing people totally changed the way I experience platforms like Instagram and Twitter. Especially on Instagram, it is so easy to fall into the trap of following insanely gorgeous people because we would probably sell our souls to look like them. But then, we see their content and feel shitty about ourselves because they’re insanely gorgeous models and we’re programmed to compare ourselves to them. It honestly makes no sense if you step back and look at it… why do we follow people who make us feel inferior? Why would we give anyone that power? We literally choose to follow them. This is not to point fault or to say super models shouldn’t post like super models, but we have to unlearn our habit of comparing ourselves and thinking we are less than those people just because we don’t look like they do.
Educate Yourself
Second, media literacy is only becoming more and more important. Obviously media literacy is vast, but I’m only going to focus on two aspects of it for this article. Twitter and Facebook often face backlash for controversial, mostly false, political news that circulate the platforms. Twitter has recently implemented fact-checking on flagged tweets, however, since these platforms are not regulated, just about anything we read can technically be false. That is why it is so important for us to get our news from diverse media outlets and channels.
Next, media literacy regarding photoshop; in short, nothing you see on magazines, billboards, social media, is real. Again, we are so programmed to compare ourselves and to want to achieve the beauty standards we are presented with in media, but achieving this standard is inherently a losing battle. If we surround ourselves with images and ideas of what we “should” look like or want to look like, we are already starting with a deficit mindset, meaning we are fixating on what we aren’t rather than what we are. And the craziest part of it all is, the people we want to look like, don’t look like what we think they look like!!!! It’s so complicated and twisted and I will definitely write a post going more in-depth about this, but for now, start trying to recognize unrealistic beauty standards in your everyday and practice not letting it be a reflection of how you look at yourself.
Follow a variety of accounts and topics
The accounts you follow should reflect your interests! It seems self-explanatory to follow a variety of accounts, but for years, I only followed friends, family and random influencers. I never thought about following accounts that are educational or focused on topics I was interested in. Once I did, the feeds of my social media were much more engaging and meaningful. When we allow ourselves to see more than the outward appearances of others, we allow ourselves to be multidimensional, and add value to the parts of us that aren’t only our appearance. Our feed should enrich our interests and talents, not just be pretty.
Limit your time & learn your triggers
This one is a little trickier because it takes time and is ever-changing. To learn how to best interact with your social media, start with taking note of how you feel before and after going through your feeds. Do you feel motivated? Inspired? Informed? A lot of times, our social media actually make us feel inferior, stressed or even upset. If you notice a negative feeling after spending some time on social media, remember that the unfollow button exists! You don’t have to take in content that is unsettling. If you feel like you spend too much time on social media and then feel drained and anxious, you can set time limits on apps and schedule your day with some breaks for social media so it is limited.
Turn off
As simple as this sounds, get comfortable turning off your phone! It feels so hard to really be disconnected from our phones. Even when I’m not on my phone, it almost gives me subconscious peace of mind knowing my phone is right next to me just in case. However, turning off your phone is the best way to really connect with what you’re doing. I used to reserve turning off my phone for when I was super stressed, which worked, but now I’ve learned I don’t need a reason to turn off my phone, I can just turn it off when I need some time to decompress. Always a good idea (:
These tips totally changed the way I interact with social media and have helped me come across really insightful and smart people. Next time you feel overwhelmed by your phone, try some of these tips!