I am a sensitive half introvert and half extrovert. I don’t want to be beaten and battered by too much information via the internet lest it would explode my head. So no news is good for me. It’s taken me a few years to understand how social media works for me. Not to be popular or to be hired but how it works for my well-being. I thought I would share in hopes that it may help give you permission to connect or disconnect in ways you hadn’t considered.
My first few faraway online friends were actually made via a site called Divine Caroline where I began to publish my very verbose ramblings cum essays. And then after the blog’s birth in 2011, I was forced into social media usage because of the blog. Read my very funny how I endured joining Facebook story here. Although, I could have just blogged for myself, and often I think that’s exactly what I’m doing, it seemed like I might want to invite others to read what I had written ergo the need for social media.
I fell in love with Instagram a couple of years in and still detest Twitter except when I’ve used it for a good cause. But the trick to all of it is in being in charge of the media and not having it in your day unless you choose it. In other words, there are no notifications on my phone for any social media apps. None. I have text messages and email notifications and that is all. I changed that in the beginning part of this year.
Further, I make sure that within Facebook or Instagram, I do not get shown what I don’t want to see. You can quiet people’s posts without unfriending them. You can make special lists in Twitter and Facebook (alas not Instagram) to see only those specifics posts from those specific people. It’s a huge sigh of relief if you’re using Twitter and perhaps Facebook if you tweak the overwhelm to your liking.
Why in the world would anyone want to be on social media at all? Because it turns out there are amazing like-minded people all over the world who show you things about yourself that you would have never otherwise known. In fact I attribute Instagram and all of my connections and challenges there with decreasing my anxiety and helping increase my self-esteem. It’s all in the way that you use it. I use it for connection and affirmation and not to pretend to be someone I’m not.
Social media and any device for that matter, are only as good as your intentions. I want to connect with the world and with myself in a way that I feel comfortable and not overwhelmed. I need to take the anxiety out of my life and put joy into it. These are the ways that I have found I can do just that without doing an all or nothing cold turkey thing. Did I miss anything? Let me know how you handle your communications. Are you put off by the megalomaniacs and narcissists or have you found a way to navigate the trolls?
And If you enjoyed what you read, subscribe, via the subscription box in the sidebar, to my thrice weekly posts via your emailbox. And visit me on Instagram to see my daily pictures, friend me or like my page on Facebook. Or come find me on Twitter or Pinterest too. I am always practicing Intentional Intouchness so chat at me please. I live for conversations.
And, as always, Thanks to you for your visit.
