Do you wish to develop a healthier relationship with social media?
With more than 3 billion users worldwide, it’s safe to say that social media is a fast and easy way to stay connected no matter where you are.
But social media also comes with a negative impact that can induce anxiety, depression, cyberbullying, FOMO, and more. Without proper boundaries, anyone can fall into a trap of negative thinking and isolation.
Creating positive habits around social media is the key to building a better bond with it. If you want a better relationship with social media, here are 4 tips to help you get started.
Unfollow Unnecessary Accounts
There might be certain accounts in your feed that make you feel lonely, frustrated, sad, or angry. Although you may not have positive relationships with certain people, for some reason, you might still follow them.
However, seeing regular updates on their lives will do nothing positive for your mental health and wellbeing. You need to put yourself first by identifying which accounts bring you down and unfollow them so they can no longer affect your mood.
Whether the accounts you follow are exes, lost friendships, or political pages, if they don’t make you happy as you scroll, unfollow them. You hurt yourself by continuing to follow up on people that don’t add to your enjoyment. Don’t worry about staying updated on people and accounts that have nothing to do with your betterment.
Use Social Media Mindfully
Do you mindlessly scroll through social media as the hours fly by? Or do you use it in a way that serves a purpose so something positive can come out of it?
There’s nothing wrong with spending your leisure time on your phone and browsing different kinds of social content. But if you find yourself feeling less than stellar every time you engage with it, then it’s time to be more mindful about your practices.
You can use social media in constructive ways to build healthy relationships with others, promote a business, or enjoy fun content. But you need to do so mindfully.
As you scroll through social media, remember that it’s not based in reality. People love to post the highlights of their lives without sharing the ugly truths, failures, and difficult times. It’s easy to compare yourself to people you don’t know and whose lives aren’t intertwined with yours because you don’t know the whole truth.
Time Yourself
We’ve all done it. We open our favorite social apps and before we know it, we’ve spent way too much time occupied with them. It’s unhealthy to let social media consume so much of your free time to the point where time passes without you realizing it.
You can choose to be wiser about how you spend your time while using social apps by setting goals and following through with them. You can set a timer, avoid checking it first thing in the morning, turn off notifications, or leave it in another room. There are many ways you can control your social media usage and take control over your time.
Think Before You Post
Social media can be a great outlet to express yourself creatively and let the world know what you think about certain matters. People post about all kinds of things like food, fashion, family, friends, etc.
However, a huge part of being mindful in using it is knowing what’s appropriate and inappropriate for a public audience. You might feel tempted to post something in the heat of the moment, but if you aren’t careful, you could potentially jeopardize your personal relationships and reputation.
Before posting, decide if the content is going to solve anything or truly make you feel better. Most of the time, it won’t.
Creating a healthy relationship with social media includes knowing what’s worth your time and emotions and what isn’t. If what you’re about to post could negatively affect you in future, then it’s not worth it no matter how you feel in the moment.
Your Turn
Using social media wisely can be a game-changer for how to use it in a healthy manner. Negative habits can make anyone feel stressed and lonely as they scroll through these apps, ut if you work towards healthier ones, you can overcome these issues. How will you develop a better relationship with social media?