How to Handle the Negativity of Social Media

(Picture: Disneyland, California by Kyla Alexandre)

Social media is a large part of our lives. It is how we connect with people all over the world, or show the world what we are up to, or view unnecessarily entertaining memes. While those things can be good, social media can be incredibly toxic and negative. There are ways social media can cause a damper on how you allow social media to impact your life. How could something we all use become so toxic? There are ways to navigate social media so you can get all of the good, or most of the good, out of social media. I am going to give you my best tricks to keeping social media on the positive end.

First things first, cut out all of the negativity. I make it a point to only follow accounts that align with things that I like, such as sustainability, LOA quotes, cooking, horoscope stuff, Youtubers that inspire me, etc. If you remove certain things that may not make you happy and curate your social media platform to things that make you feel good and inspire you, your social media experience will differ entirely. I spend more time on my Instagram for Get Aloha Spirit than I do my private one because it makes me happier. It is a process from going from negative to positive, which is why I am attempting to make my personal Instagram as positive as possible. Recognize when there are things that may not make you happy. You do not have to follow accounts you do not want to follow. I am saying this in regards to following people from school you don’t like, or celebrities that you don’t like, or anything of that sort. 

Next, recognize when you have reached your limit. After a while, social media can start to strangle you and when you reach that point, it is important to take a break and cut back. It is important to take breaks. Give yourself a limit. I try to take a few days off or delete the apps every now and then. It is really important to reconnect with the real world around you every now and then. Sometimes people need breaks and that’s okay. 

It is your social media page, whether it is Twitter or Instagram or any other platform, you can do whatever you please with it. It is your personal thing that you can make your own and when you make something your own, it should make you happy. Post as you please, follow as you please, social media is meant to connect you with people, not make you depressed. This ties into my text tip. Political accounts are a huge chunk of social media, and while it is incredibly important to be aware of the political climate it can turn around into a negative thing. Social media is not the best place to get political information as well as the fact that it becomes full of negative comments. The negative comments suck you in and cause a damper to your well being. I’m not saying remove all political following from your accounts but be aware of how they affect you. Being intune with yourself gives way to determine what you actually need to do. In some cases your following, political or not, may need to be reduced to a minimum, nothing at all, or unlimited because you don’t let anything get to you. 

Remember that your happiness is important and you may not have control over everything but there are some things you can control and your social media is one of them. I hope this helps you clean out the negative energy that surrounds your social media and don’t forget to stay vibin!