10 things to allow yourself on social media to be happier

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Reconsider your approach to managing your accounts if you want to have more fun with them.

1. Ban haters

Doubtful subscribers who hate the author and constantly strive to prick him more painfully, but at the same time continue to follow his content, are more common among bloggers with a huge audience. In fact, no one is immune from hate of various sizes.

Even if a person has 30 subscribers, a classmate, for example, can creep into their number. And so she regularly scribbles comments in the style of "simplicity is worse than theft." For example, he recalls unpleasant stories from the past or asks provocative questions to which it is not clear how to answer, such as "Have you already stopped drinking cognac in the morning?" And then there are people who are tactless or those who try to violate personal boundaries.

It would seem that such responses do not hurt the reputation. But they significantly spoil the mood, and it is usually inconvenient to ban their authors. The choice here, in general, is not great: to look well-mannered and allow yourself to systematically do something unpleasant for yourself, or make yourself unpleasant to someone once and protect yourself.

The ban function was invented for a reason. Feel free to use it. Those who are particularly conscientious, of course, can try to explain to the hater what he is doing wrong, but this is not necessary.

2. Do not add relatives as friends

One of the purposes of social media is to help users stay connected. Therefore, it is quite logical to add relatives, classmates, former and current colleagues and other acquaintances as friends. At the same time, it helps networking, because you never know what kind of connections might come in handy.

But people maintain accounts for different purposes and collect a certain audience in them. Relatives, especially the older generation, are not always ready to accept these rules of the game.

For example, a girl works as a fitness trainer and actively maintains an account on VKontakte. Among other things, she puts her photos in underwear, because the body is the result of her painstaking work. Let's say her parents registered on the social network, but her daughter doesn't want her father to see these pictures.

Or a guy writes poems about tragic love and the decay of life, which he posts on Instagram and accompanies with the corresponding photos. Aunt subscribes to it. First of all, she constantly writes huge comforting comments, not realizing that the lyric hero and her nephew are not the same thing. Of course, this destroys the atmosphere of the account. Secondly, the aunt calls the poet's parents and pretty much shakes their nerves, suspecting the nephew of using illegal substances and a tendency to self-destruction.

You don't have to be a great psychologist to understand that we behave differently with different people. And it's perfectly okay when the audiences you interact with don't overlap. Let's say you don't invite your parents to a crazy party. But for some reason, it is believed that they can come to a crazy account on social networks themselves.

Just because you are bored with someone's account does not mean that it is bad. It just doesn't suit your interests. Someone can watch videos of funny dogs for hours. Is this very diverse and intelligent content? Not at all, just a person likes to watch dogs, but reading quotes from classics under landscapes is no longer very much. And to someone and vice versa.

So it's okay to unsubscribe from those whose posts no longer interest you. If you are still shy, then there is a way out: now in all major social networks you can hide the posts of individual users from the feed.

4. Write about what interests you

You don't have to read content that isn't interesting to you, but you don't have to adjust to your readers either.

Of course, if you make money from blogging, your income depends on how popular your posts are. Some people manage to bend their line and gather around them an audience with common interests. Others are forced to adapt to the tastes of their subscribers.

But often users with a small audience begin to doubt whether they can write about some things, whether they will be of interest to readers. For example, you collect figures from comics, but you are afraid that people will get bored if you start posting them all the time. But if you think about it, what's the difference? What changes if you get 183 likes instead of 250?

Those who don't like it can simply unsubscribe.

5. Don't listen to counselors

Some people take any post as an invitation to discussion. For example, you can't just take and display a photo with a new haircut. Someone will surely say: "How good, now you always walk like that." And the other will write: "It used to be better, grow it." In the midst of all this, you will be perplexed, who did not ask for ratings and instructions.

People, and often unfamiliar people, always know better what to write to you, what photos to publish, what to do, where to go, and so on. The Internet completely unties their hands, because advisers believe that if a person has posted something, he should be ready for any response. This is certainly not the case. And it's worth learning to ignore advice if you haven't asked for it.

6. Ignore "experts"

The big problem with social networks is that they don't have that many experts, but they have an abundance of “experts”. People even manage to cure diseases on the Internet without any medical education.

And in order for the content to fly well, dubious tricks are used: "You lived your life in vain if you don't do it in the morning" or "Things that a stylish person will never wear." Do you recognize? This, of course, is the usual clickbait and categorization. And even if you understand the absurdity of some statements, a grain of doubt can still get into you. A man speaks so confidently, he has so many subscribers and defenders. Perhaps there is some truth in his words?

Ignoring the gurus of social networks is not only possible, but also useful. Even when communicating with experts, you often want to have several opinions in order to compare. It is clearly not worth believing the first blogger that comes across.

7. Not participate in discussions

If someone is wrong on the Internet, you immediately want to assemble an “explanatory team” and tell this erring person what is wrong. But this is a dead-end path.

First, you still won't prove anything to anyone. Secondly, you read the comment, got angry once - and you live on. If you start a discussion, you will get angry as many times as they answer you. Even if you emerge victorious from the argument, the aftertaste will still be disgusting.

Sometimes expressing your attitude to someone else's comment is really worth it. When someone is broadcasting openly dangerous and offensive thoughts, it is still useless to argue with them, but you can make it clear that not everyone agrees with the author. However, there is no need to debate for this, one comment is enough. And it is better to leave it not because of the last mental strength, but when you have a resource and you understand that the answer will not unsettle you for the whole day.

In any other case, you will pass by the discussion on the Internet - go through.

8. Do not repost, even if you are asked to do so

Charity is a good activity that brings satisfaction to some and gives a chance for life and well-being to others. But it must be voluntary. And it is all the more unfair to demand from one person to help everyone, and this happens.

It's not even about money, but about reposts. Most likely, every day you come across more than one request for help in the feed. Someone is sick, someone is missing, somewhere good hands are required for the animal. It is a pity for everyone and everyone wants to help at least by spreading information. And sometimes they come to you and ask for a repost or accuse you of not doing it. But you can afford to decide how much of this content you are ready to publish for yourself, and if you are ready at all. And that's why.

First, every charity repost requires fact-checking. You need to make sure that the information is up-to-date and that there are no scammers behind it. By posting a request for help without this prior work, you're only making things worse. Donors' money can get to criminals, and real charitable projects will be left without support.

Secondly, if you carefully select publications for repost, your subscribers will take them more seriously than if you broadcast everything.

Finally, you don't become a terrible person if you don't try to help everyone.

9. Don't feel guilty if you don't wish someone a happy birthday

Before social networks, you lived in peace and did not know how many of your friends celebrate their birthday today. But social networks changed everything and made me suffer from doubts: to congratulate or not? What to write, because you hardly know each other? And the person will not be offended if you ignore him?

Congratulations are important when it comes to loved ones. Others are unlikely to notice that you did not congratulate them. That congratulated, however, too, if your laconic "happy birthday" drowned in dozens of others. Life is full of reasons to worry, because of this it is definitely not worth it.

10. Recognize that social media is a “retouched” reality that does not have to correspond

When you scroll through the feed, it seems that the Internet community consists exclusively of beautiful, successful, wealthy people. You are not like that, and that makes you sad. Scientists have even found a link between social media use and depression.

In fact, your acquaintances, of course, can be beautiful and successful. But you only see a portion of their life, which together is probably not that much different from yours. If someone else's success motivates you, you don't have to change anything, but you can be productive without neuroses.