If my planning was better, I would have been more clever with a post landing on April Fools’ Day. Instead I’m writing a genuine post about increasing my social media use.
Why Do This?
For the past few years, I’ve seen a variety of people have to take breaks from social media for mental health and productivity reasons. Their use of it led to stress and anxiety that only pulling the plug seemed to resolve.
While I’ve had social media accounts since MySpace made it’s way around middle school, and made a Facebook and Twitter as those started to gain popularity. As the years passed, I used them less and less.
Today, I really only use my accounts to share these posts or other projects I’m working on. I’ll rarely share some random thought that comes to mind, but those are few and far between.
While it can be a slippery slope into a vat of toxicity, I’d like to start using social media more often – keeping up with posts from others and getting my voice out there more. I want to see what happens as I throw more thoughts out into the void.
Low Information Diet
Without intending, I’ve long followed the “low information diet.” Rather than totally re-hash the points made by Mr. Money Mustache in the aforementioned post, I’ll summarize.
Consume and focus on information that requires immediate action, such as changing health guidelines or laws that affect your day-to-day life. This post back from 2013 was needed as much then, if not more now in the hyper-informed world we live in.
For years now, I really haven’t tried to keep up with too much news that was happening. I followed major events and those that impacted me directly. Doing this helped me focus on a few things and put more emotional investment and support those, whether it was a simple fundraiser I supported or a story that would influence my decisions when it came to voting.
The Good and The Bad
While it could be easy to say, “social media is all bad,” that wouldn’t shed light on the good that I’m seeing on various sites.
I’ve seen a lot of great posts from family and friends I don’t always get the opportunity to keep up with. Seeing pictures or even just a few words on what’s going on in their neck of the woods puts a smile on my face.
I even had a lot of fun earlier in the week with Snapchat, an app I consider social media. After a number of hilarious moments in my day, I was able to send pictures out to some friends and family to share that experience with them.
Of course, it can’t be ignored that social media also platforms a bombardment of news, trolls, and negativity which can be fueled by a single post. The first few days I was checking Twitter more often, I felt like I was in full sprint trying to keep up with news and trends that felt weeks old by the time I got to the next story. Keeping up with it all can be mentally and emotionally taxing.
Trying Out Before Buying In 