Going online is almost synonymous to logging in to various social media platforms. Almost everyone has a Facebook or Twitter account; even your workaholic colleague would probably log-in to LinkedIn from time to time. The abundance of these networking websites makes it almost impossible to stay off the grid. Consequently, it also opens you up to the whereabouts and activities of people on your network, whether you like it or not.
Unfortunately, such social media interactions can be stressful for some, and maybe even detrimental to their job performance. A good example is how Facebook can make you envious, as outlined in this article from Mashable. The following are some of the tips that you can consider in order to keep your spirits up and not ruin your day when you’re browsing to social media.
Surround yourself with people you like
While this tip doesn’t directly address the issue, this is more of a preventive measure that would help keep your day hassle-free. Most social media platforms give you control over your activities. You get to choose who to add and who to ignore, and you can also choose which content gets delivered in your wall and which ones are kept hidden until further digging. Rule of thumb: don’t add people you don’t like. That includes people you don’t know, and those who are “friends” of “friends” that just asked to be added out of the blue. Now if you can’t say no to some of these people, some social networking sites like Facebook allow you to filter the content that gets reflected in your page. If you are annoyed by rants, unfounded and opinionated posts, and disturbing and insensitive updates, among others, you can just choose to hide or un-follow them automatically.
Take everything with a grain of salt
When you’re connected with hundreds or even thousands of people through a social media platform, you should be prepared to see all kinds of unsolicited information from them. Keep an open mind, since you can’t argue with all of them. Even if you know you are on the right, try to remain calm and fight the urge to correct whoever is wrong in the Internet. This will keep your day more peaceful, and will surely keep you away from online trolls. Information labelled as “facts,” no matter how convincing they may seem to be, should always be taken with a degree of scepticism. There are a lot of mischievous people lurking in the Interwebs, planning and perpetrating the next big hoax like the one that involved college football player Manti Te’o. The responsibility of double checking facts always fall on the shoulders of the readers; so while you’re browsing Facebook, you might want to open a new tab dedicated for Google searches.
The Internet has given us a lot of good things, from VoIP providers, to mobile web browsing, to heart-warming pictures and videos of cats and bunnies. But it is not a perfect environment; social media could easily keep us from achieving our daily work goals, and it has been proven to cause stress to many. Even when we’re free to surf the web, add and connect with new and old friends, or post about our daily activities, we should all be responsible enough to do it in moderation.
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Nice share, Nancy! I’ve already done tip number one which is surround yourself with people you like. What you have written here about adding people is exactly what I’m doing now. I’m going to definitely consider your other tips to not ruin my day with social media. Thanks for this!
Thanks, Arianne! I’m glad you enjoyed reading my article.
I certainly don’t wanna ruin my day, ergo, I won’t do those things that can turn social media sites into horrible monsters. Thanks for posting!
Glad you liked my work, Vianney.
Choosing who I want to add as my friends is exactly what I do. When Facebook was just new, I immediately add everyone I came across from friends of friends. I am now cleaning up my friends list and chose those I really know personally.
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