#Lowtox Social Media
Hey friends,
I love Instagram + Facebook. I wouldn’t run an online business utilizing it if I didn’t enjoy it in the first place! It’s an incredible resource for entrepreneurship. It’s also a great place to build and maintain friendships, connect with a global audience, share passions, have meaningful conversations, build awareness, and inspire/be inspired. There are of course darker sides to these platforms that I have worked hard to diminish. When I sign on, most days my newsfeed and interactions lead me to feel uplifted because I recognize that social media is exactly what I allow it to be. Today I’m sharing how I’ve made this possible.
This is my system:
1) Create more than you consume. When I am simply taking in other people’s content and not putting out any of my own I feel drained. I don’t have a set rule or anything, but the more I share from a place of alignment the better I feel. Share your artwork, writings, practices, adventures, and so forth! Don’t worry about being perfect. Just be authentic.
2) Turn notifications off. No one should get notifications popping up on their phone about who is commenting or posting online. Enjoy your life, notification free, and check in when you feel like it. Everything else can wait.
3) Scroll with intention. Scrolling can be fun. Just try to be mindful about it rather than glazed over and in zombie mode. Have a book with you at all times, and if you’re reaching for your phone out of habit, grab your book instead.
4) Follow accounts who share things you are passionate about and add value to your life. My favorites are typically about high vibe living, clean living, holistic wellness, travel, photography, lifestyle entrepreneurship, plants, styling, etc!
5) Connect (actually be social) and make friends! Actually ENGAGE with people. Hit the like button, DM people, and make friends. I’ve made most of my current friends through Instagram, and it all starts with engagement.
6) Unfollow/defriend accounts that don’t add value to your life, are toxic, and low vibe. If you don’t know the person, and are just following them and their posts don’t do it for you, let them go! Why continue to follow them? If you really miss their content, you’ll be able to find them down the road.
7) Utilize the mute and unfollow buttons for the people that you feel like you cannot defriend. (on facebook you can remain friends but unfollow people so they don’t show up in your newsfeed. On Instagram you can do the same by muting posts and/or stories). This works wonders for family members, work friends, and old friends that you ultimately care about or you don’t want to face the real world ramifications of defriending. They won’t know you’re not seeing their posts, and your newsfeed stays uplifting. ;)
8) Automate your social media time! If you run a business use ads more heavily if you’d like to connect to people without actually being online.
9) I’ve walked the line with feeling like I need to censor myself on social media because I wanted to avoid backlash on certain trigger topics. After doing some major soul searching I decided I will not censor myself. If I feel called to share something, I share something… if someone tries to knock me down because they disagree that is okay, and will always say more about them than me. I cannot control what other people think or how they choose to show up. Ultimately, their feelings and opinions are not my responsibility. After years now, I’ve kind of heard it all. I always remind myself that the happy people who are out living their best lives are not the ones posting negativity on facebook. They’re not the ones trying to win an online argument or defeat you until you share their negative and questionable ideology. And I try to take it all with a grain of salt, do my best to ignore internet trolls, and avoid getting into arguments or feeling like I need to defend myself. Remember that you never have to explain, defend, or justify your content! Do not let anyone censor you.
10) Put the phone down + get outside. Do it daily! Don’t even get on your phone until you’ve met your needs first. Refer back to number 9. Happy people living their best life are not the ones getting in online fights. :)
And there you have it! You’re the creator of your reality, and your social media will reflect that. If you want to make it an uplifting place you can absolutely do so!
Any strategies that you want to add to this list to keep your social media low tox + high vibe? Comment them below.
Have a beautiful week!
LOVE lindsay
