Ah – the good old days when Facebook was the only social platform you had to really worry about to keep up with friends and where people just typed out “Danika is… at school.”
It was easy to use, easy to share, relatively drama-free at the get-go and it had the best of intentions. Surely, Zuckerberg had good intentions when launching.
What’s developed over the years is a massive network of groups, private messaging options, pages, shops, events and more. Most of my photos from my university days would vanish if Facebook disappeared one day (although maybe that would be best anyways).
Facebook has now grown into “Meta” and offers a host of options to suit business needs. It’s an Ads Manager and a content scheduling tool (not my favourite); you can manage multiple pages and businesses and select roles and contributors. And that’s just scratching the surface. I know what they are trying to do and are aiming to create a powerhouse marketing tool that is free - minus the ads.
But the issue is that people are either leaving Facebook or starting their social media journey elsewhere lately.
The young 13-18s are on TikTok and guess what? So am I. Business is booming on TikTok. Its design goes back to a simple-to-use app to boost its popularity. The filming interface and two simple feeds make it a breeze to pick up.
For teens, it’s no problem because they are used to it now, but for other populations and generations it’s hard and it’s one more thing to learn on top of maintaining their FB page, website, email lists, and day to day operations.
I’m talking about it from a company perspective for the sake of this post. For them, the overwhelm is real. (It can be applied to private users as well, which is good for you to think about as a business operator – your clients will share in your struggles most likely).
You most likely were just getting used to doing Zoom meetings during COVID times, getting the hang of regularly posting stories on Instagram, and now this.
Psst… and then Pinterest and YouTube and… STOP.
If your mind is swimming from the above and lately social media has made you feel increasingly anxious or negative, you’re not alone. Recent research out of the University of Arkansas shows that there is an independent relationship between both time on and the number of social media platforms to the probability of developing depression or anxiety. Interestingly, if the user knew their contacts mostly rather than having a friend’s list filled with strangers, they were less likely to experience these issues.
There are a few specific issues I have come to notice myself that affect my mental health while on social media (and I spend a lot of time there!). Here are a few tips to help you get a hold of your social media journey. Let’s look at them.
Negative Nancy
Misinformation
Platform Overwhelm
Timesuck
Confidence and comparisons
1. Negative Nancies
The first one has been around since… well probably Bebo or MySpace. Sometimes presenting as bullies, the space can be filled with people who seem to exist purely to be a troll straight out of a fairytale. They sit and feed on others energy – literally sucking it from you by posting negative comments or trying to stir up a fuss.
Do not engage.
There is nothing that says you can’t have your page/account be a safe space. I look at it as if someone has come into your house and started disrespecting you. Block them, delete them, or if it’s a friend you can try talking to them privately. If it gets too exhausting – don’t allow comments or turn your profile private. I find a lot of the trolls are strangers who feel it’s okay to act in such a manner to someone they can’t see.
2. Misinformation
As if we weren’t all dealing with trying to dodge a potentially lethal virus, we now were met with the added stress of weeding through a slew of information whenever we opened a social platform. Apparently close to “66 percent of New Zealanders are very concerned about information that is misleading or wrong being shared online.” To me, that says we care an awful lot about the truth and care about our community. Most of us can grasp that uninformed or misinformed people will make lesser decisions. There is a part in all of us that wants the best for our fellow humans, and some amount of responsibility can weigh on us to engage in some way.
You do not, however, have to hold this flag. The best way to handle this is to simply not engage and hide any repeat offenders. No one likes to completely remove friends/family from our lives, but they don’t need to be in your feed or stories if they are constantly spreading news or misinformation, if that is what is stressing you out.
Click on their post or story and choose to hide/mute. You can also Unfollow these people to serve your own mental health. If you want to see how they’re doing, make a conscious effort to go and look at their page when you are feeling in the right mind.
On the same front, try not to contribute to the misinformation yourself. Verify where you are getting your information from before hitting that little “SHARE” button. 3. Platform Overwhelm
I touched on the multitude of platforms in the beginning of this article. Just choose the platforms that work for YOU. Not every brick-and-mortar store will opt to sell online. Not every online store chooses to go to the markets. Not every service-based business offers packages or does an email newsletter. You have to decide where your target market is and where they spend their time – and then be present there.
Do it well. Do it planned. Don’t hop, skip, jump over to TikTok if you don’t think you can also maintain your other platforms as they are. Your energy is important.
If you fail to launch something like a TikTok account, you won’t feel very good about yourself and if your confidence takes a hit, it will definitely show itself across your platforms. I have seen people become discouraged when videos don’t do as well as they wanted, and it’s a mental strain already as it is.
Save yourself and make a calculated social media strategy before joining a new platform and ensure it is an effective choice for your company.
4. Timesuck
Hello, TikTok and IG Reels vortex (and now Facebook, too!) We have all been there. You started with a quick swipe to just see what your friends were up to. Then you watched a video of your favourite blogger playing a prank on their partner. Next minute you’re following a man who owns six baby parrots and kisses them all before bedtime tucking them in as he goes. And now it’s midnight. *YIKES*
Scenario two – you’ve been filming a piece of video content for an hour and editing, getting it right. Tweaking it, perfecting it – and then making sure you can use it on all your platforms. Then you get to add the text and music in each platform specifically and before you know it one video has taken you three hours to do. Oh, and it flopped.
You need to learn time management for social media. Here’s a way to fix each problem.
If you’re scrolling, get an app that will ping you when you go over your screen time for the day. You can get that for free with the native iPhone Screen Time app for example. IG actually has a built-in timer that lets you know when you go over a certain amount, but other apps can help in different ways. Check out the app Freedom for one that lets you block certain types of apps (like shopping). You can also download something like Forest that will keep you from even picking up the phone to start with if it’s disrupting your day (and you get to grow a garden!).
When it comes to content creation, please – plan it out. You can most likely film things all at the same time if you have a few different shirts. If you get an idea for a great video and want to film it in the moment – great, do that! But try to get other clips too and then sit down and edit them all together. Save your pieces so you can repurpose the content. Everything you can do to make your life easier and get the content in a rhythm.
5. Confidence and Comparisons
This is a hard one. It’s affecting everyone from clients to business owners and it makes me so sad to hear. Unless you are trained to film, act, or have a keen eye for film, you’re not going to be perfect! And guess what, some of the BEST videos I have made took me all of 30 seconds. I saw something naturally funny/entertaining, added a bit of text to the video, and shared. It wasn’t framed perfectly, it wasn’t perfectly lit – but it struck a chord with my followers.
You need to find how to connect with your audience in your own way. The reason they follow your account is that it is YOU. Let that shine! Don’t compromise on your values or profile just to get in on a trend. Not every trend will work for every person.
It’s OK to follow a few accounts that inspire you or offer you value directly, but try not to follow vanity accounts. And remember that no one got there on their first day. It takes time to grow, and those people are following a consistent, planned strategy.
That’s where true growth happens.
So now what?
All of the above tips will help to take care of your mental digital wellbeing. Social media can be all-consuming if you’re not careful and cause debilitating stress. Don’t let the above sticking points weigh you down and give these recommendations a try.
Don't see one you quite like? What about this gal who completely gave up social media before noon? It's a good way to stop early morning stress hormones and also get your time back. The writer, Alice, reports that she's been doing this for 365+ days now and will NEVER look back. She says the two biggest pain points removed were procrastination and distraction and it boosted her creativity (apparently highest in the mornings!). Really good read if you have a few minutes and need some real-life proof of change you can make.
If you’re feeling that it’s all too much – reach out anytime on LinkedIn. I’m happy to chat about your social media process and what can be done to lighten the load.
Danika Ciullo is the Marketing Manager at CIO Studio. For a more in-depth strategic approach to your social media and business processes, you can visit our contact page and choose the option that works best for you.
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