July 2024 - Social Media Overwhelm SOS
📱I have such a love-hate relationship with social media.
On the one hand, and I think you know where this is going, social media is toxic and addictive.
Addictive because there appears to be a payoff, which I’ll get into in a second. Toxic because anyone can say anything, whether it’s in a comment or as a video. The loudest opinions might not always be the truth or most commonly held, but it sure looks like it sometimes.
Social media has gotten us anxious and overstimulated. We waste so much time and money, glued to our phones, constantly being sold/told stuff that doesn’t do us any good.
On the other hand, I love how it has created opportunities for so many people to share their unique experiences and interests and find other people who relate (the payoff).
Never in my wildest dreams could I have thought that there were other people out there who'd laugh at F1/Romantasy crossover memes. Or other people who love organizing and decluttering as much as I do.
I would have never expected that I’d find women 20-40 years older than me celebrating themselves and everything that has to do with aging in a way that made it something for me to look forward to, instead of fear.
Whenever I browse my socials, I find another reason to become a little more confident about my insecurities and fall deeper in love with my interests. This is why, until there’s some sort of alternative, I won’t completely cut social media out of my life.
This month’s content is centered around social media:
- Dealing with “Acute Social Media Overwhelm”
- Tech mindfulness
- Observing “pre-social media movies” through the lens of “this is life with social media”
Something by me
I had my first experience with doom scrolling during the pandemic –I think many of us did– and while I knew I wanted to be more intentional with social media, I also needed tools to handle that overwhelmed feeling I’d get immediately after scrolling just a little too long.
In this post, I talk about acute social media overwhelm and its impact. From clickbait headlines to constant fear-mongering, the content we consume can leave us feeling like the world is in constant crisis, we aren’t good enough, or all of the above. Let me share how I recognize the signs of acute social media overwhelm and what I do in those moments to re-center myself.
Something by someone else
Title: Forest Bathing - Spotify Playlist
Description: “Bathe in Ambient and nature sounds and reconnect to nature, with the Japanese practice of shinrin yoku.”
Why I like it: I love highly specific playlists. This one only features really calm ambient music overlaid with sounds you might hear in peaceful woodlands (think birds, creeks, rustling leaves). It’s said that bird song is really calming to humans because birds stop singing when there is danger, which means that when we do hear bird song we get this subconscious message that “all is well.” I’m pretty sure that people are still researching this, but I like the thought a lot. If you’re ever in a situation where you can’t go outside, this is a great alternative to get some of the benefits of nature.
Something by you
In my blog post, one of my tips for dealing with acute social media overwhelm is to imagine a world in which social media doesn’t exist. For inspiration I’ve been loving movies that are set in high school before 2006-ish (the nostalgia!).
I love watching things like Mean Girls, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and Clueless, and noticing how time and presence are portrayed. My invitation for you this month is:
Watch a movie that portrays a relatively modern time (right before social media became widely adopted) and notice what feels different.
What do you think the people in the background are doing?
What are the side characters filling their time in with?
What “time-wasters” have been replaced by social media?
Refine updates: Behind the scenes
I’m playing with the idea of creating a bonus module around “unplugging” (finding a balanced way to be on social media) for the course on digital decluttering. What do you think?
Also, as a reminder: the introductory pricing for the course on digital decluttering and organization will expire on the 5th of this month (July), so don’t miss out on it if you’re planning on buying the course!
Code: INTRO25
