This is a collaborative post: Social media is a neutral tool for the most part – its value all depends on how you use it. Or at least, that seems to be true. In fact, social media apps have been designed to capture as much of our attention as possible, trying their hardest to keep us around, and engaged. A good way of doing that is to push controversial news content in our faces and introducing us to conversations that are sure to get our emotions running high.
Now, social media can be a fantastic place to meet new people, discuss ideas, get up to date, and even run an online brand if you wish to. But almost anyone will agree that sometimes, it’s important to take a break, as the bad is almost always going to be present in your experience, at one time or another.
Arguing politics online is never really a bad idea, if you believe in a topic and wish to debate it, that’s totally fine. But it could be that if you spend too much time on social media, and its increasingly diminishing returns, you may be actively denigrating your mental health without knowing it. In the last year, the political discourse surrounding society-shifting news like Covid-19 has made the social media landscape incredibly harmful to deal with.
If you get value out of this, then that’s great! More power to you. For those who feel as though a break is needed, if only to give them more breathing room while they adapt to society opening back up again, then you might wish to consider the following alternative hobbies:
Reading Into History & Politics
Unfortunately, social media is filled to the brim with narcissists of every stripe and colour. For this reason, going there for debate (perhaps hoping to learn something) will rarely if ever happen the way you wish it to, and even if you put forth the most reasoned analysis possible, the person you’re arguing with will rarely, if ever, actually accept your points.
For this reason, instead of forcing our opinions on others, it can be healthy to read into history and politics ourselves. Testing our views and doing the work might help us become even more affirmed in our beliefs, and perhaps this kind of self-work can help us avoid spurting everything outwards, instead of encouraging us to look inwards. Hey, perhaps you can become a little less certain of your preconceived notions this way, which helps us all become better learners. There’s no reason why you need to only have one or the other, but if you find yourself a little exasperated, then looking toward self-improvement can be key, even if that means reading material you disagree with (just so you know how to argue against it better).
An informed historical view can make you even more dynamic in the comment section, but it can also provide your soul with more substance compared to arguing with an anonymous troll account on the most vitriolic part of the interwebs.
Explore Your Local Area
Sometimes, we need to remember that social media puts us in touch with a global community, and in the span of human history, that’s a pretty weird novelty for us to deal with. We might find ourselves arguing for hours online only to realize that this person might not even be located in our country at all, or have our frame of reference in any possible case.
For this reason, it’s good to get out, and remind yourself of where you’re actually situated in the world. Enjoying a hiking trail with your best friend, taking pictures and placing those pictures in frames around your house can be a good reminder that nature is waiting for you. As the cliche saying goes – you won’t find WiFi in the forest, but you’ll definitely get a better connection.
Support In Your Local Community
It’s uncommon for any tweet thread or Facebook post to make a real difference outside of blowing off steam. But having some effect on a ground level in your community? Yeah, that could work quite nicely.
The truth is that you don’t have to throw your weight behind the loftiest causes to make a real difference. Even something as simple as cleaning graffiti in your local community, donating to causes you find important, or volunteering for a homeless charity drive from time to time can make more difference than even twenty-thousand well-formatted tweets might be able to.
What’s more is that because you’re laying forth this effort in response to your local community, you’ll actually be making a visible effort you can tangibly see and enjoy. This helps you realize that for the most part, Twitter is not real life in any considerable form. But your surroundings are.
Does this mean you have to avoid seeing the bigger picture and caring about international justice? Of course not. But this approach can help you feel more actualized than you otherwise would.
Get Involved In A Cause
The truth is that we only have one lifetime, and a certain amount of time each day. It’s incredibly easy to pay lip service to every single issue you feel is important, but sometimes, it’s best to focus on one you can actually make a contribution to.
This is why many famous celebrities focus on campaigns that they can dedicate themselves to, rather than trying to do a little bit of everything. For instance, the work Ashton Kutcher has done surrounding practices that prevent human trafficking networks is fantastic, and if anything, the awareness he raises is a significant part of that. Rihanna turned a lack of diversity in the make-up sphere into a multi-million dollar business.
You don’t have to focus on tackling all of that of course, but it can be truly helpful to know that not only are you engaged with social media on relevant topics, but you have one that you can speak authoritatively on, and that you really do try to contribute to. That, if anything, can give you focus, instead of trying to lift the entire world on your shoulders. It will also help you take a little bit of time away from social media.
Learn Meditation & Relaxation Techniques
Social media is a very mental enterprise, something that can reduce your attention through endless clips, soundbites, 280–character tweets and notifications out the wazoo. For that reason, it’s a great idea to sit back and learn how to focus, away from any screen.
Meditation is a wonderful practice to have here. Even ten minutes a day can be a great place to start. Beginning is also very simple. All you need to do is sit back and focus on your breathing for ten minutes. That’s it. You’ll no doubt see just how many thoughts pass through your mind, but try not to get attached to them. Just calmly bring your focus back to your breathing.
When you do this, you are slowly training your concentration, which is a pleasant state of mind to be in. It will also help you think more clearly, as well as giving you the chance to reduce some of the stress that general life can bring on from time to time. And, perhaps it can prevent you from feeling annoyed when you see something stupid on your social media feed, which is inevitable.
Submit To A Creative Project
There’s a rampant culture online, mostly found on social media, where people feel they have to be ‘right’ in everything they say and espouse. Well, what’s the alternative? To be wrong about everything? Of course, that’s certainly nowhere near a better approach.
Actually, the real alternative is to find a healthier manner by which to express yourself. It might simply be that instead of wasting our best creative energy on a vitriolic post, we could funnel this into a craft we can be proud of. Painting our opinions through an artistic process of self-discovery is a practice as old as time, and a tremendously powerful one at that. This is just one example, we’re sure you have your own tastes and skills, or perhaps you’d like to build some now. Even writing a short story could not only help you express your thoughts, but challenge your ideas, and do so in a manner that grants you complete creative control.
This is what the great Russian author Dostoyevsky used to do, and why his books are so timeless. In them, he would often give the characters who espoused ideals he vehemently disagreed with more of a solid intellectual position than his own, which forced him to really confront the grounding behind his beliefs, and it’s what elevated his work past agenda-driven literature to something that really explores the human spirit.
You don’t have to be so high-minded about your creativity, of course. But it goes to show that sometimes, the best dialogue you can have is with yourself, and creativity is a wonderful part of that.
With this advice, you’ll no doubt find healthier alternative practices you can use instead of engaging in social media too frequently. A healthy balance is always a good idea.