The internet is a powerful, powerful place. It’s here that someone can share their first pictures of a new baby with hundreds (and even millions) of people at a time, and where we can find the perfect recipe for what to bring to easter dinner in just a matter of seconds. Gosh, what did we do before the internet and social media?
On one hand, we may have judged less, we spoke to each other more, and we definitely spent much less time staring at our phones. On the other, we may have easily lost touch with our college roommate (hey, Shan!), had trouble keeping up with the family thousands of miles away, and actually, I wouldn’t have had an opportunity to connect with all of you. As you can see, I have mixed feelings on what social media brings into my life and truly the good outweighs the bad.
Confession: I edit the heck out of my social media.
Content Editing for Self-Preservation
I am extremely cognizant of what type of content I accept into my world. It’s all energy after all. I follow NO ONE that is negative in nature. If you run around consistently sharing gloom and doom and dark clouds, you don’t have a home on my feed. If you share posts that are triggering to me (make me feel like less of a person, not good enough, not fashionable enough, not active enough, not cool enough), I’m also going to remove you. Know that this has ZERO to do with you, and everything to do with the way I feel. Frankly, if I make you feel that way, you have my absolute permission to do the same.
I will forever own my edits and my preferences and feel fully comfortable saying: Yes, I choose to not have your doom and gloom in my face every day or I cannot handle how perfect your life appears to be every single day, when I’m just trying to make it over here. These are real things that no one ever says.
Of note: Instagram has a genius muting option you can leverage for friends that fall in this category. Because social media is so over-emphasized in everyday life, unfollowing friends can make you lose them. Trust me, I’m exhibit A in that category and have lost friends due to an unfollow (before mute became available.) Unless you want to lose them IRL, I definitely recommend choosing mute with close connections instead of unfollow.
Consider Taking a Positive Approach
Something I’ve seen popping up a little too much lately is a strange competitiveness around lifestyle. As it relates to my platform, the anti-KETO, the anti-sugar, the anti-calorie counting, the anti-diet movements have made their presence known on the internet lately. I’m sure there’s an anti-Jenny Craig equivalent out there too, thankfully I haven’t run into them so much so far…
Important disclaimer: We all have opinions, and we all have to do what we think to be the best thing for ourselves and our bodies. Do you, boo. Seriously. I’m not a doctor. I don’t know what makes you feel best. I believe in you.
If you want to try the all green, all raw, protein only on Tuesday diet and talk about it on the internet, that’s fine by me. I’m not planning to join you… but more power to you. What’s never going to happen is for me to launch a campaign stating that I am ANTI the all green, all raw, protein only on Tuesday diet, complete with hashtags and a separate handle dedicated to the anti. Nope, that’s not my style.
Many, many years ago… I watched the movie The Secret for the first time, and they talk about being FOR something and not AGAINST something else and the power of word selection. This has stuck with me ever since. Example: I am FOR butter lettuce, rather than ANTI iceberg. I could waste my time talking about why I hate iceberg, or I could flip the narrative and just talk about what I love about butter lettuce. Which one do you think has greater impact and positivity? I know my answer… #butterlettuceforlife
There is a Season for Everything
I recently gave up watching This is Us. I just stopped mid-season – – right after the Jack Vietnam episode. As the episodes stacked up on my DVR, I realized it had become minimally impactful to me. So, I moved on. I’m so glad to have met the Pearsons, and wish them well, of course…
I take a similar approach with social media considering I’m not really looking to add to the time I spend on my phone daily. As I add one, I try to delete another. One in, one out… so that this thing doesn’t get out of control!
Example: There are influencers that I used to love to watch their instastories and would rush to read every blog post that I’ve now lost my connection with. I’ve made the decision to unfollow, and, that’s ok!!! I leave with gratitude and make space for others in my life. There’s an infinite amount of content that will come into your life for a season and a reason… edit quarterly and with gratitude.
How do you manage social media? How do you stay grounded and healthy in this space?