Social media has borne the brunt of many criticisms: It’s what promotes extremist views, fake news, and cyberbullying; it tends to present us an unrealistically beautiful image of life, making us compare ourselves with flawless, edited images of someone’s face or body; and not to mention, the chase for attention or following has given rise to many questionable behaviours.
As a result, it’s increasingly often to see someone do a “social media detox”, either by pressing pause on posting content, or on viewing it. Not just the consumers of social media, but also creators themselves, find it necessary to take a break, every now and then, from the overwhelming noise, judgment and pressure of apps like Instagram or TikTok, which are supposedly “toxic”.
So, ironically, platforms designed to bring people together are now pushing us away with their sheer “connectedness”. Public opinion surrounding social media has been so negative, that it got me thinking: Can we, as users, benefit from social media at all? Are there ways we can harness its features to create a healthy, conducive online space for ourselves?
Engage with affirmative content
Curating a “healthy” social media feed takes a lot of work — so let the algorithm do it! While the algorithm has been faulted for cherry-picking content and presenting to us only the things we want to see, we can actually exploit this feature by setting intentions on what we “want to see.”
For example, I make it a point to engage with affirmative posts ever so often. Be it overused positivity quotes or cheesy motivational advice, I know that these little reminders matter when it comes to social media exposure. After the algorithm has learnt my pattern and started pushing out even more affirmation posts to my feed, scrolling through my homepage became an actually enjoyable process, sprinkled with nice little reminders like “Take Deep Breaths” and “Be kind to yourself”.
Make full use of the “Mute”, “Unfollow” and “Not Interested” buttons
(And understand that others have full right to use them, too.)
If you come across posts or accounts that are triggering or upsetting for you, exercise your freedom to block them from your feed — not necessarily in an angry or bitter way, but just for the sake of your peace of mind. If you feel absolutely miserable about your own life after watching someone’s luxury travel vlog, the simple solution is “don’t watch it.”
On the other hand, know that other people have the freedom to block your posts too, perhaps through no fault of your own. Reminding yourself that muting, unfollowing or disengaging doesn’t always have to be personal, is key to releasing yourself from the stress of consuming unhealthy content, and also from second-guessing other people’s judgment of you on social media.
However, this is not the same as blocking out alternative opinions and creating an echo chamber, as will be discussed later in this article.
Follow values, not opinions
An undesirable effect of engaging with content we want to keep seeing and disengaging with content we don’t, is that it creates an “echo chamber” that prevents us from getting to know alternative viewpoints. It’s easy to be convinced that everyone holds your opinion, if you only engage with dialogues that agree with your opinion.
For activists on social media, one way to work around this echo chamber effect is to learn to follow accounts that align with your values, not necessarily your opinions. I follow many health and fitness experts on social media, whose opinions sometimes directly go against each other: One nutritionist might be completely anti-diet, while another might be promoting ways to eat healthier. What unites them, though, is their values: the passion for human well-being and the willingness to keep learning and updating their knowledge. With exposure to both camps, and the evidence that supports each side, I found myself more informed of the field as a whole.
Train yourself to listen to voices that oppose your views but align with your values. Why do you differ? From what context or background are they speaking? Can you change your mind, or adjust your opinion? This is an especially important practice for the activists— until we learn to step out of the echo chamber, understand alternative points of view, and reflect on our own stances, there isn’t likely to be much meaningful discourse on social media.
Bring online connection to real life
All the performativity aside, social media is an excellent way to keep in touch with friends, especially those you don’t get to see often in real life. If connection with friends is your primary reason for using social media, try to actively interact with them and initiate offline meetups. That way, your connection is “real” and your friendship is built on more than what is selectively presented in images or short videos.
Social media is also great for meeting new people who share a similar hobby or interest in a subject as you. In this case, organize offline activities that don’t just involve you sitting down and staring at your phone screen. Social media isn’t life, but it can be a way for us to add new elements to life!
Despite criticisms of social media, I love it for the information and knowledge it provides me, and the connections and relationships it facilitates. Certainly we can take steps to mitigate the problems of social media; but so can we take advantage of its benefits and opportunities. And since social media seems to be in it for the long haul, perhaps harnessing its strengths is just as important as preventing its harms.