Most people have figured out that social media companies are in the business of making money.
If in that process you, their customer, reconnect with your high school friends, join an awesome fat loss group, or expand your own business, I’m sure Zuck is overjoyed you’re having a positive experience.
But it’s not always positive. For a lot of people social media has become an overwhelmingly negative experience they’d rather just do away with.
It’s too negative, too judgmental, too tribal, too superficial or just makes them feel inadequate: not happy enough, not cool enough, not pretty enough, not good enough.
What’s interesting is that most KNOW all this: know it’s bullshit, know they’re being sold someone else’s highlight reel, and even know just paying attention makes them feel noticeably worse. And yet every day they’re back scrolling.
Solution?
You don’t have to dump social media from your life. Just make it work to enrich your life.
Pfizer announces breakthru anti-anxiety med.
Scroll SLOW thru Instagram feed for 15 mins a day.
Every account ask: does this content make me feel good, inspired, or at least smarter?
If answer is No to all 3 unfollow immediately.
Do 15 min daily til account is clean.
#2021— Bryan Krahn (@BryanKrahn) January 2, 2021
The happy/good/smarter test posted is an awesome start as it’s all about YOU and what you need.
- If buff bodies appeal to you but leave you feeling sad or small, then unfollow. It’s not helpful.
- If offensive memes make you blush uncomfortably but smile BIG on the inside, FOLLOW. It’s your feed, your happiness — you do you.
- Finally, if something makes you feel neutral or even a bit uncomfortable but makes you smarter or at least THINK, well… that’s trickier. I say FOLLOW, provided it’s factual and not just provocative rabbit hole nonsense. But if unsure, then just unfollow; there are far better ways to acquire knowledge, anyway.
Bottom line, your happiness and mental health is far too precious to be left exposed to technology with the ramifications we’re only beginning to understand.
At times, everyone has to fight for their happiness or even seek help. That’s just life. But that doesn’t mean fighting the very tools we adopted to improve our lives.
Make those tools work for you.
– Bryan