It is no secret that we all spend too much time on social media, especially when recent events are keeping us cooped up in our homes. While scrolling through our Instagram, Twitter and Reddit accounts, it has become more difficult to avoid getting triggered by various forms of media. The term triggered represents a negative emotional reaction that is caused by someone or something. Whether it be a controversial tweet, unrealistic Instagram photo or demeaning subreddit, getting triggered has become a protruding theme in our online existence. For most of us, it is nearly impossible to avoid these social platforms. Thankfully, there are steps we can take to improve the quality of our feeds and our feelings toward social media.
The first and most obvious way to avoid getting triggered is to siphon through any unwanted accounts or topics that you may be following. By unfollowing these accounts, you are taking advantage of social media’s primary function: showing you the content you actually want to see. While this simple step will do wonders for your feed, it will not completely rid you of triggering media. Regardless of the precautions you take to avoid unwanted posts, they always seem to creep up anyway. Below are some additional steps that you can take to help with your inherently emotional responses.
Firstly, it is important to recognize the things that trigger you. Don’t judge or demean the feelings that are elicited during these moments. Once you master this skill, you can begin to recognize the posts that negatively influence your emotions and simply scroll past them. One resource to help you discover what it is that upsets you and why is a list of common emotional triggers. This list is composed of words like “included,” “love,” “freedom,” and other common emotions that are likely to cause a triggered reaction. The next step to avoid getting frustrated on social media is to decide how you are going to feel and digest unwanted posts. Now that you can recognize what triggers you specifically, your newfound understanding of your hot buttons will allow you to take control of the ideas rather than individual posts. Not only can you learn to scroll past them without a thought, but you can also begin to view these posts with a higher level of self-awareness.
For some of us, learning to scroll past triggering posts is a game changer when it comes to social media. For others, the game changer is learning to appropriately scrutinize and debate about posts we dislike without getting our emotions involved. Either way, it is important to try to avoid getting frustrated when exploring the various platforms like Instagram, Twitter and Reddit. Social media has become an inevitable part of our daily lives and it is meant to be something that is enjoyable. It is time to avoid getting triggered and start appreciating the posts we choose to see.