Social Media is neither good or bad – but how we use it can be
Earlier today I heard a great talk by Susan Leigh on Taking The Stress Out Of Stress at a SUBS Altrincham event and it made me think. The event was so busy and stress is obviously a concern for small business owners. Susan’s talk was about ways of coping with stress in general rather than social media specifically and there were so many great takeaways. Great takeaways such as “No Can Be A Positive Word” and “Smiles are contagious and they’re free”.
There are so many articles on Social Media affecting young people’s mental health, social media being one of the issues cited in divorce and being a negative influence in people’s life … how do I, a person who owns a company named the Best Social Media Company in Manchester, make a social media a positive and less stressful place to inhabit
Here are my thoughts on How To Remain Positive and Take The Stress Out Of Social Media
If any of the following resonates with you, then please do consider sharing on social media and make happiness a global movement
Choose Who You Follow Wisely
You are the average of the 5 people you spend most time with
The average person in the UK spends more than a day a week online and OFCOM revealed people in the UK now check their smartphones, on average, every 12 minutes of the waking day
It makes sense to choose who you follow wisely on social media
If you are the average of the 5 people you spend most time with, then you are the average of the people you choose to follow on social media
Are they positive? Or are they relentlessly negative?
Follow those people who will lift you to greater heights
Mute Politics
Muting politics on social media doesn’t mean you’re not well informed
By all means read books on politics, read long form journalism on politics, read the manifestos for each election and keep yourself informed
But if you want a positive stress free life mute politics on social media
I honestly believe that if someone tweeted “Peace and Goodwill To All Men” there would be more hate than love in the comments
Twitter for myself was becoming a joyless experience because of Brexit, Trump, Racism and absolute hateful rants from both the left and the right
I muted key words which were coming up every day, unfollowed a large number of people involved in politics (regardless of whether I agreed with their point of view or not) and Twitter became a place of joy overnight
You are not going to change anyone’s deeply held political beliefs with a tweet so what is the point in a 4 hour argument on the internet
Block Where Needed
Your feed is your feed
No one has the right to make you feel unhappy, unworthy and miserable because of what they post
There are some people who feel they have a god given right to post abuse on a daily basis and there’s a word for that – harassment
The block button is your friend and if gets worse than that then ring 101 and report said perpetrators to the police
This is your life – as you would in real life, cut out people who relentlessly try to bring you down to their level
Share Positive News
You attract what you put out on social media
I’m always amazed at the general public’s ability to ignore positive news in favour of local tabloid journalism. It creates a climate where all we believe happens in the world is stabbings, rape and old ladies being mugged.
I remember last summer. In our local area 1000 teenagers were doing community projects that really helped and impacted the local community and the media ignored them in favour of 3 teenagers who stole another teenagers trainers
Don’t be the media
Don’t help the media spread bad news
Shine the light on your family, friends and people in the local community that do great things
Sharing positive news makes your life so much happier
Limit Your Time
Question why are you using social media
What are you wanting to get out of it?
What does it add to your life?
I use social media to improve my business and educate myself and I set time limits for each platform when I log in
Social Networks are designed to keep us checking for more so don’t fall for the “I’ll just check social media for 2 minutes, which turns into 2 hours” trick
Before you open the apps wait 30 seconds before and convince yourself why you’re logging in – boredom is not a reason
Be Present In Real Life
Who is in front of you is more important than who is on a social network
Never forget that rule
By all means if using it for business glance at notifications when needed, check your phone when you walk to the bar or to the toilet – but don’t invite a friend or family member out for the night and spend your whole night connected to your phone
NEED HELP WITH YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA?
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We can only find out what is unique to your business by chatting with you
Look at our Social Media Training and Social Media Management services
Or Please call Alex on 07806774279 or email alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk
