Sometime last month, I participated in a challenge with my friends. In the challenge, we all had to post a video screenshot of our respective Instagram feeds.

I couldn’t help but notice the amount of mentally exhausting content on some of my friends’ feeds. I saw that they were following accounts of people they didn’t even like and accounts with contents that were of no interest to them.

The one that concerned me the most was the screenshot of one of my friends that’s currently struggling with insecurity about her body. Her timeline was full of models and famous celebrities with unnatural figures and such.

Why wouldn’t she feel anxious about her body when this is what her Instagram feed looks like?

I thought to myself.

My social media feeds have contents such as basketball — my favorite sports, Interior designs, and Friends — the sitcom. The reason was that I don’t like to feed my mind with things that are not of interest to me.

Also, I make sure that my feeds/timeline is not congested with lots of unnecessary content. So I limit how many accounts I follow and also limit my post engagement.

Social media timelines are called feeds because they feed your mind. So in other words, whatever accounts you follow, those are your mental feeders.

I know people who follow accounts on social media either out of sentiments or peer pressure. They follow those accounts because everyone else follows them. If you don’t have an interest in the content of the account, don’t follow.

For example. There’s this famous singer that I’m not a fan of. Not because I don’t like her or anything like that, I’m just not as obsessed with her as most women I know. Even though I accept she’s a legend and a great inspiration for most women all around the world, I just find that I’m not really into her music. So I don’t follow her account and that is fine.

Don’t follow accounts that make you feel anxious depressed or insecure. Anything that is mentally draining should be unacceptable to you.

Accounts To Follow On Social Media

It all depends on your interests. The things that are most important to you. For example, if you’re a makeup artist or you‘re just fascinated by
makeup, it’s okay to follow accounts of the top makeup artists that you
admire.
I always look for three things in accounts before I hit that follow or subscribe
button and that's what I’d be sharing with you on this article.

1. The account Should Have Contents That Inspire You

Before you hit that follow button, you should make sure the account has content that inspires you. That is, It has to be an account that makes you want to be the best version of yourself.
This is one of the most important things I check out before I follow any account on social media. I make sure that that account inspires me to be the best version of my self. For that reason, I have different accounts for different purposes. Accounts that inspire me are;

• For music — I follow Adele because her music is one of my biggest inspirations. Listening to her sometimes gives me ideas for my own songs.
• For arts and creativity — I follow a few interior decor accounts.
• For Motivation and wisdom — I follow Gary Vaynerchuk. His words of advice sometimes feel like fuel to my soul. Whenever I listen to him speak, It’s almost like I have the ability to conquer the world.

2. The Account Should Entertain You

This is actually one of the main reasons we go on social media, to get entertained. Most people tend to follow accounts with entertaining content.
The thing is, even though you don’t realize this, some of those
accounts that claim to be entertaining are in fact the reason
why you feel mentally exhausted most of the time and in some cases, depressed. This is because you’re constantly consuming
content that makes you feel less of yourself. Such accounts that
only have pictures or videos of people with perfect, luxurious lives
with perfect bodies and stuff like that that has you questioning your
worth and accomplishments.

An account that entertains you should be an account that makes
you laugh, keeps you feeling relaxed, and generally give you a good time.
Such accounts to me are;

• For music — The Irish band The Script, 21 Pilots, Jon Bellion, and Paramore
• For series/movies — I’m a super fan of Friends — The sitcom, I
• also love Spongebob square pants, Game of Thrones, and The Big Bang Theory and This is us.
• For Sports — I follow mostly basketball accounts because that’s my favorite sport.

3. The Accounts Should Educate/ Inform You

Follow accounts that give you genuine information. If you’re the type that loves to know what’s going on around the world then go ahead and follow one or two news channels. Try not to consume too much negative news though. That will not help your mental well being.

If you’re the type that loves to learn or upgrade in a particular skill
or business follow accounts that inform or educate you on those
skills. Let your social media feeds be a learning tool for you.

You should only consume content that deserves your time and mental energy. And if you already following accounts that make you feel anxious and depressed, this is a good time to click the unfollow button and when you do, don’t feel guilty about it because you have to look out for your mental well being.

Social media timelines are called feeds because they feed your mind. So in other words, whatever accounts you follow, those are your mental feeders. It’s up to you to decide what kind of food you want to feed on. Chose wisely.