Did you know that active social media use is better for your mental health than passive social media use? Research has shown that active social media use lets the algorithm dictate the content you see instead of doing so yourself.
People underestimate how much the content they see affects their mental health. Remember that you have a say in what content you see on social media, and you should exercise that right to improve your experience.
Here are some ways to get active and improve your social media experience.
Unfollow pages whose content and pages are designed to shock or anger you or make you feel worse. Most news and political content fall into this category, along with some individuals. Additionally, unfollow the pages of friends and family members who are constantly boasting about their lifestyle, making you draw comparisons to your own life and feel bad.
You can also take a break from them on Instagram/Facebook so that you can see less of their posts.
Select ‘Not Interested’ on any posts on the Explore Page that you don’t want to see. You can also block the pages that persistently appear.
Replace these sources of toxic content with content that inspires and helps you, such as mental health pages or pages about your hobbies, e.g., art, photography, dance, travel, exercise, etc.
For sources of content that inspire you, like, comment, save and share them to let the algorithm know you’d like to see more content within these niches.
To reduce your time spent on your social media platforms, you can set up a notification in the settings to alert you when you have reached a set usage time.
You can also mute notifications to reduce the stimuli and urge.
If you know that you are getting addicted to social media, consider uninstalling the apps for now and even blocking the app and website using blocker software. It is known as the ‘Cold Turkey’ approach.
Lastly, consider turning off your phone and putting it away when you’re working or in a conversation so that you’re not distracted by social media.
