Watch Your Step | How To Use Social Media Effectively
I promise I’m not going to plug my Twitter all the time, but at least it’s relevant here.
So a couple of weeks ago I joined Twitter, hoping to get my blog some more exposure (and also to keep up with my favorite content creators because the rules on viewing tweets without an account had recently changed). After all, I can’t be a journalist in the future if I don’t have an audience now!
I’d say it’s going… okay so far. Just from looking at my analytics, I can tell that I’m attracting at least some traffic from Twitter (it’s not much so far, but it helps). And at the very least, I don’t feel myself using it obsessively or getting carried away- yet. I’ve even had a handful of productive discussions there if I do say so myself, and I do.
Now, this is far from my first time using social media. I’ve used a couple of different sites here and there. But my old accounts have all since been deleted/ buried/ abandoned. Although considering the way I was brought up, my erratic relationship with social media is to be expected.
My first exposure (albeit indirect exposure) to the Internet was back in the mid-to-late 2000s, with those Internet safety courses they gave you in elementary school. I had it hammered into my head that telling somebody online your favorite food was considered “too much personal information”, and that there were these things called “attachments” that would literally ruin my life if I ever opened them because they were almost certainly a virus.
Public education is weird.
So all of that, combined with my parents’ very strict rules (not just regarding the Internet, but about having friends in general), meant that I didn’t really use social media until I was way into my teen years. For a brief list of my social media history until present day:
- I have a YouTube account (came with the old Gmail account I’ve had since I was 11) that I only rarely use. I don’t upload videos, I only occasionally leave comments, and I barely even log onto it unless I need to watch an age-restricted video.
- I once had a Twitter account for, like, two weeks until I deleted it because I found myself doomscrolling obsessively. Maybe 2020 wasn’t the best time to join Twitter.
- I have a Facebook account that I use to save my progress on Best Fiends (yes, I play stupid mobile games from time to time) and that’s it. I don’t even follow my relatives on there.
- A couple of months ago I rejoined Reddit after deleting my account for reasons that I went over in “Invisible Ecosystems”, my last major editorial.
- I… think I still have a Tumblr account? Again, just in case I needed to access something age-restricted, but it’s been so long that I don’t remember the password or anything like that. Maybe I deleted it, maybe I didn’t.
I would say I have a decent bit of experience with social media, both positive and negative. Today, I’m here share some of the best tips I’ve learned regarding the best way to use social media without letting it consume your life in one way or another. Follow these tips, and it’s much less likely that you’ll be scrolling through Twitter for hours when you should be sleeping, or getting in an argument with some moron in a YouTube comment section.
Plenty of articles on this topic exist, but I’m here to give my own perspective on the subject. This is based solely off my experiences, and the things I’ve learned along the way. Hopefully this will also be useful for me to go back to once in a while.
Curate your feed to suit your interests.
When you create an account on a major social media site like Twitter, part of the tutorial/ setup process will likely involve the site asking you what topics you’re interested in, and the kind of stuff you’d like to see on your feed. Instead of rolling your eyes and skipping this part, I highly recommend giving this some serious thought.
Your social media feed on any given account should heavily center around two interests at the absolute most. Movies and TV shows, video games, photography- pick a couple of these interests and revolve all of your activity on your account around them. Follow only accounts who do those things, and only like/ share/ etc. content relating to that subject matter. This cuts down on information overload and ultimately gives you more of the stuff you like.
You can always use other websites for different topics. In fact, that’s highly encouraged, since different social media platforms specialize in different things. If you’re interested in art and photography, Instagram might be the place for you. If you’re in a fandom of any kind, the best place to have in-depth discussions is- and I speak from experience- Reddit. The list goes on, and a little preliminary research on a platform’s upsides and downsides goes a long way.
If you see any posts crop up on your feed that have nothing to do with what you’re interested in, click “not interested” or “show fewer posts like this” or whatever. Expand your circle of creators slowly but surely, and only based on recommendations from people whose opinions you care about.
Fact-check everything.
This one is self-explanatory, so I won’t spend too much time on it, but it takes no effort at all to spread lies on social media. All it takes is somebody intent on misinforming people, and a handful of people who uncritically believe and repeat everything they hear as fact.
Don’t go around liking or sharing posts about how this law has passed, or that celebrity has died, until you’ve done some digging to make sure it’s actually true. It sounds obvious, but some people get caught up in the moment and either don’t do research or don’t wait for the whole story.
Also, be sure to gather your information from a variety of news sources (and cross-comparing their reporting as well) rather than heading straight for a fact-checking site like Snopes, since those have their own problems (I’ll go over that in more detail some other time).
Choose your battles carefully.
Social media and pointless arguments go together like picnics and ants. But the fact that people openly disagree is not by itself a bad thing. Yelling at random people online about whether this band is great or that anime sucks can even be fun sometimes.
Usually, there’s an unspoken understanding between the 2+ parties involved that, being anonymous users, they are on more or less equal footing. They can go back and forth for hours arguing about something that ultimately doesn’t matter, and after a while the dust settles and they get on with their lives.
But sometimes these online arguments go too far and get too toxic and aggressive. Not a Reddit mod’s definition of “toxic and aggressive” (those bastards would rather shut down a whole comment section than actually do their jobs and delete a few mean comments), but full-on brawls that escalate to hate speech, death threats, doxxing threats, and so on.
If you ever see one of these going on in a comment section somewhere, do not engage. You alone probably can’t talk sense into these people while tensions are high, and that’s fine. Just report comments containing objectively offensive content, and your job is done.
But you can end a fight before it starts- on your end, anyway.
If you see a post online that you disagree with and feel compelled to start a discussion with the person who left it, ask yourself a few questions about this post/ comment/ etc. before you do anything:
- Is it poorly spelled or filled with excessive swearing, slurs, or other derogatory language?
- Is it based off of blatantly and provably untrue information?
- Does it preemptively resorting to personal attacks (ex. “This shouldn’t be a hard concept to grasp for anybody who isn’t a *insert insult here*”)?
- Is it worded in such a way to suggest that the person is not open to an actual civil, nuanced, productive conversation?
If the answer to two or more of these questions is “yes”, then it’s not worth it. Mute or block the person in question, and move on. If they want to end up screenshotted and put in a cringe compilation somewhere, you don’t want any part of that.
Do not use social media for political discussions.
On the subject of curating your feed, spotting misinformation, and handling arguments, it’s time to talk about echo chambers.
There is a fine line between a group of like-minded people and an echo chamber. Just because you agree a lot doesn’t mean you’re incapable of disagreeing.
But politics in particular is a topic prone to creating echo chambers, because on average people get more heated and passionate about politics than anything else. Not to mention that the information people base their political beliefs on is constantly changing and evolving, but some people will never admit that they ended up being wrong.
I know that abstaining from political discussions can be hard because politics is often hyped up as a thing you HAVE to be discussing at all times or else you’re an apathetic asshole who doesn’t care about real issues. But there is more to life than politics and NO, not everything is political.
It’s one thing to have and even share political opinions, but most people are incapable of both having informed beliefs and sharing them tactfully. If this sounds like you, then do yourself a favor and render your social media presence apolitical.
NOTE: This does not apply to making your acceptance of groups like the LGBT+ community known, nor does it apply to putting your pronouns or other similar information in your bio. I actually recommend putting your pronouns in your bio, mostly because people who are seriously bothered by this aren’t the kind of people you want to associate with anyway- and some people will really appreciate it, too! Curate a healthy following as well as a healthy feed.
Take frequent breaks, and limit your time online.
I know I risk sounding like a boomer here, but limiting screen time is good for you.
All you really have to do any time you log on to any social media site is check if the people you follow have posted anything recently, maybe scroll a few minutes to see if there’s anything else that looks interesting, and that’s it. This doesn’t take that much time- I would say that no more than fifteen minutes at a time should suffice, and no more than three times a day.
You also don’t have to check your social media every single day. If you feel yourself getting bored of social media, or you think that because of some current event that it may be best to not log on for a few days or even weeks, that’s fine. Take as much time as you need, and don’t go back online until you’re sure it will be good for you.
This whole editorial is aimed not at major content creators like streamers or artists, but ordinary people who watch and support them. And you, ordinary person, don’t owe social media your time.
How many is too many?
Are you one of those people who has an account on every social media website possible?
If so, or you’re considering becoming one of those people, then this section is for you!
Do NOT make an account on every social media platform unless you really need to (you probably don’t). Aside from issues like data leaks and remembering passwords, some sites are just objectively more worth your time than others. Pick three platforms at most, and ignore the others to the best of your abilities.
As a continuation of the earlier advice regarding curating feeds, be sure not to follow too many different people. If you’re only using your account for certain subjects, then you probably have very specific tastes and only need to follow about fifteen people per topic. Only follow/ subscribe to content creators you REALLY like.
On top of that, take a moment and decide whether or not you really need these sites as apps on your phone. Some people develop social media obsessions specifically because having a readily-available, cleanly-formatted app spewing notifications every five seconds is just too tempting.
You should probably limit your short time on social media each day to your computer, because it’s not nearly as convenient and you don’t always have it around (usually). When in doubt, tell a friend or family member to remind you not to spend too much time online each day.
There’s no shame in blocking/ muting people. No, really!
Really!
Look, I get it. It’s widely believed that your comments/ replies/ etc. should stay untouched, and interfering with that in any way (ex. disabling comments) is one of the universal no-no's of the Internet. It’s usually taken as a sign of weakness, of somebody who “can’t take criticism”, regardless of what kind of comments the person was actually receiving before they engaged in this “censorship” (some of these don’t qualify as criticism even if you squint at them through a piece of stained glass and take hallucinogens).
But going back to the idea of choosing your battles, some people don’t want to listen. They just want to be mad and hurl insults. They’ve dedicated their online presence to hating certain people or things, and nothing is going to change their mind. You’re not “weak” for blocking people like these, and you’re not infringing on their right to “free speech”.
I’m only saying this because some people need to hear it.
Know when to quit.
But what if all of this isn’t working, and it gets to be too much?
Well, you just quit. It’s that simple. Delete the account and move on. Social media isn’t for everybody, and in most cases nobody is making you stay. There’s plenty of other ways to spend your time and communicate with people.
NOTE: Of course, if you find yourself unable to quit even if you know that social media is not doing your mental wellbeing any favors, then it’s time to seek professional help. Nothing is “wrong” with you, it’s just a thing that happens to some people.
Just be sure to personally say goodbye to any friends you’ve made before you do so, or they’ll be wondering what happened to you.
Conclusion
I’m glad that after all the fearmongering I endured growing up, I wasn’t too scared to put myself out there on the Internet. Otherwise, I would’ve missed out on a lot. I’ve encountered some shitty people, but a lot- a LOT- of great ones as well. I’ve had fun talking about things I like, I’ve been entertained through some hard times, and I’ve learned a lot about the world and myself. In fact, if it wasn’t for sharing my thoughts with people on Reddit and Medium, I never would have discovered that I want to be a journalist.
Despite what some people may tell you, social media isn’t either all good or all bad. It’s a powerful tool, and just like any powerful tool, you have to learn how to use it or else you’ll get hurt.
Join me next time where I talk about somebody very important to me, somebody without whom this blog probably wouldn’t exist.
Thanks so much for reading. Until next time, stay on the hook!
