Seeing Social Media for What It Is

Photo by Prateek Katyal on Unsplash

When did using social media become a lifestyle?

I remember thinking MySpace was incredibly boring, and when I first joined Facebook in 2008 I wasn’t overly excited either. These were simply places display a status and maybe share a picture with your social circle. Additionally you could follow some cool bands or whatever caught your interest.

Nowadays, social media has become a way of life. You have followers and an audience — yet if you do a lot of posting about yourself people will probably poke fun at you. It’s no longer about connecting with your social circle. Not entirely. But that’s not a bad thing either.

Still, with countless articles out there saying it’s making people anxious, how we change our relationship with social media?

Often the solutions presented to us are limiting our use, deleting the app from our phone, or getting rid of our accounts all together.

Or we could see it for what it is. A tool. A place to find media we like and be social about it. You wouldn’t sit through a shitty TV show, so why pay attention to content you don’t like?

Use it to follow the people you can celebrate wins with and you actually care for — doesn’t matter if it’s an actor, musician, or friend. Read content from businesses and topics you actually like. Fill your newsfeed with your hobbies and interests. Subscribe to what makes you happy or what you can get behind and forget the rest. More importantly, go get your news elsewhere.

Of course you will see something you don’t care for from time to time in the form of an ad, suggested content, a comment, or some other kind of content you find annoying or offensive. In that case, hide it, keep scrolling, or, if it’s really awful, report it.

You can also mute your friends or hide specific posts of theirs if they make you roll your eyes. They won’t know.

Social media isn’t inherently bad. Mindless scrolling and popping in can only be attributed to user error. And yes, not all content is within your control, but there are steps you can take to have a more enjoyable experience.

If we see social media for what it is and use it with intention each time we do, perhaps we enjoy this tool and do some good with it.