I have seen the dawn of the microwave oven, the VHS, the DVR and the cell phone. I have watched video games evolve from Pong to Nintendo to Super Nes, Sega, and X Box.
I worked on computers with GUI (gooey) graphics and then moved to Windows. I remember when computer mainframes took up entire rooms and have loaded more blue bar paper into pin feed printers than I care to remember.
I have been blessed to live in a time of great innovation and technological advancements. For me, and only speaking from a work perspective, the two most significant inventions in my lifetime are the iPad and social media. Yet, as much as I love them, there are drawbacks to both.
Technology has brought us social media. Do you remember AOL chat rooms? Lordy, I was the queen of the chat room -- hahaha!
I got involved with AOL quite by accident. There was a time when my self-esteem was so low, my Supervisor put in my PERFORMANCE REVIEW that I had to improve it!
Can you believe it? On my performance review!?! Who does that?
As it turned out, not only was he a great supervisor, he was also a good friend. And he recommended I check out AOL to help make some friends. It worked! I found out other people thought I was funny and they flocked to whatever chat room I was in. My self-esteem soared!
It was fantastic except for one small drawback -- people forgot there were real human beings on the other side of that monitor and thus sometimes spoke terrible things they would never ever utter face-to-face.
Unfortunately that is still true and it gets worse every day. I like to read article comments, and find that way too many people are incredibly insensitive, oftentimes rude, and usually, if not downright ignorant, then for sure, ill-informed.
Just this week, two videos - both of which had incomplete information - went public that sent social media into a tizzy!
Sometimes social media makes me feel crazy and anxious. In fact, there are three huge risks associated with using social media that can affect your health, but luckily I found a way around them.
Let me share the risks first:
First, there is FOMO or the Fear Of Missing Out. FOMO can make you nuts -- people who follow celebrities' every selfie or have to read certain friends news feeds or follow their friends with an 'oh my gosh I can't miss a post' attitude do so because they might miss something 'important'. These people fall into the FOMO category.
Second is the feeling of inadequacy that can come when following too much social media. Following people who appear to lead glamorous or adventurous lives can make others feel 'less than' and that can lead to depression.
The truth is many people who post a lot of 'look what I did' pictures and posts have just as boring or mundane a life as the next person. They just know how to make it look like they're having way more fun.
Third is the stress and anxiety caused by reading too much negative social media -- news feeds, political pontificates, hate filled rants, can all create a sense of doom, depression, anxiety, insomnia and worry. None of which we need in our lives.
I found myself falling into all three traps over the years, BUT quite by accident, I finally figured out a solution.
Here is the key to happy social media: follow sites and users you truly enjoy.
Sounds simple, right? It actually is!
For example, on Instagram, I started following a lot of decorating users -- Home Goods, Target, Pier 1, Wayfair, TJ Maxx, Magnolia, Hobby Lobby, Michaels and several others. Now when I scroll through Instagram, I see 95% of decorating images. These are images that evoke feelings of joy for me. I love decorating and crafts!
That's what I mean by finding this out by accident. I put all these fun sites on my Instagram and suddenly found I was smiling every time I scrolled through! I can look at social media and actually feel HAPPY! Who knew?
So how about you? What do you love? Fishing? There are lots of sites to follow. Sports? Pick your team. Gardening? Cooking? Seriously, figure out what makes you happy and follow that! You will be shocked how much better you'll feel every time you scroll through your new social media feed.
Make it a point to fill your social media feeds with sites and users who nourish you, who fill you up, who, when you look at them, make you smile. You'll feel your stress melt away and you'll feel a surge in your optimism.
It's the first month of a new year. If you haven't yet made a resolution (or have already broken all of your resolutions) then set this intention (repeat after me): "I will use my social media for good. I will use it to help me feel happy. I will use it to find my inner joy!"
Find a way to let everything else go. It'll change how you see your world......
