Go on an App Diet
How many social media apps do you have on your smartphone? Let’s start counting: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn (yes, that one counts). Did we miss anything? Probably. Anyway, odd are you aren’t truly enjoying them all. Some of them are there just to complete your routine scrolling loop and you’d do well to delete them. We aren’t here to tell you to deactivate any accounts — only to use an actual computer next time you need them.
Ditch Passive Likes for Actual Comments
How many posts have you liked in the last 24 hours? How many have you commented on? We’re going to guess the first number is a lot bigger than the second. But really, nice comments make a much bigger impact on the person across the web than a generic like. Saw a nice artistic Instagram picture? Instead of tapping that like button, leave a comment saying how much you like it. This might sound like a hassle but it has great benefits: it boosts your own mental health, it makes other people feel better, and it makes the whole social media experience a lot more positive.
Don’t Push It
We’re talking, of course, about push notifications. Sorry for the pun, we just had to. One of the things that make social media so time-consuming is push notifications. We hear our phone ding and our hand Pavlovically reaches for it. When you turn those pesky notifications off, you become masters of your own time. The beginning might be a little difficult but you’ll get the hang of it soon enough and start using the apps only when you have time for them.
Don’t Follow Accounts That Make You Feel Bad
It’s almost too obvious to say, but many of us don’t actually do that. We all follow an occasional influencer whose life makes us jealous. There are also politicians we follow to “stay informed” as we like to call it (come on, we watch everything on the news, we don’t need it on social media too). Oh, and let’s not forget that one kid you went to high school with who always seems to be one-upping you and poking holes in your self-esteem. Go through your accounts and detox them of all those negative influences and thank us (and yourself) later.