Media Mindfulness: The Blessing and Curse of Social Media
Written by Harry Croose
"We don't have a choice on wether we DO social media, the question is how well we DO it."
Hey all I hope you are well. 🙂 Today, I am going to be talking about Social Media, and the blessing and the curse of it. Unfortunately, in society, there are many cons to have social media, it can be a great tool to use for good, but only if we our truly mindful of what we not only post on social media, but also by what we consume.
Imagine, for a moment, how big this world is, every happy thing, every sad thing, it i stoo much for one person to bare, social media is a platform where everything and everyone from every persepctive can post, which is both a great thing for free speech, but also a bad thing for clarity and a sense of control. What we consume, gradually creates our own world view, and it is through that, that we see everything.
1. THE CURSE
Like I said, let us start with the curse of social media. Again, I am not advocating against free speech, but there needs be a lot more conscious control of how people use this tool. People need to be more careful and more aware on the impact of what they post will have on their readers. When you share something, and someone reads it, they take something from that, you as a user of these platforms have a responsibility to make the online world, a more stable, fun and most importantly positive place. I am absolutely shocked and disgusted sometimes on what people post on social media, some things should be reserved only for certain eyes, and not displayed like a smelly sock on a washing line. Forgive me if that sounded a bit rant like, but it is common sense, you want to only share cool things, positive things online, as that will reap rewards and attract similar things on your personal feed, making your experience online a lot more fulfilling as if you are contributing to people’s wellbeing and uplifitng, rather than dragging people down. Even if you what you share is supposedly negative, there are mature ways of talking about it, and re-framing it in a positive way. If it is negative for negative sake, just don’t share it on an online platform. Period. Many people, have enough problems to be getting on with, by all means communicate, but there is a difference to adding to the conversation, and dumping all your shit online.
Dumping all your shit, affects everyone’s experience online, everyone who reads it, if you need assistance or help, by all means talk to someone, but don’t just dump and project online, as it will only make more people have negative moods and thus negative problems. This is curse for irresponsible use of social media.
2. THE BLESSING
The blessing of social media, of course there are also many positive voices at there! Memes that make you laugh, a chance epsecially while in lockdown to communicate with family and friends! To stand up for things, worth fighting for! Also, a means of promoting a service or business, a way of showing the world who you are! 🙂
This in actuality can raise spirits, rather than diminish, this is why it is ever more important for people like you to post when you are happy and want to share something to the world. 🙂 It may seem a simple blessing this, but in actuality it can do wonders, it can inspire people to create their own blog, YouTube Channel, or just even to brighten up their day a little more. 🙂 The power of this change in perception may also allow people to relax and be happier on social media to follow suit. 🙂 Perhaps there is something you want to do, that has been swimming around in your mind, that may
change your life online in a more productive and positive direction. Also, a blessing is you may also follow or have friende dpeople with this nature woven to them, I ask you if I were to give oyu some advice, to consume their content more often, then once who are naturally negative.
3. THE SOLUTION: MEDIA MINDFULNESS
Of ocurse, naturally I would not have put a curse up on my blog post, if I did not have a solution for the problems that may arise when using social media platforms. So I may have elluded to the solution, in my blessing category, but to give oyu a lovely framework to follow, here is my recommend solution to this problem.
Firstly, I would look like to give you an analogy of broadcast channels. Let’s just say there are 10 channels, 1-10, 8 of these channels are filled with negativity, horrible news and rude stuff we don’t want to talk about here; yet 2 of these channels are positive and resonate with you, or at least with what you want to be more like or become. My main solution, would be to filter or perhaps in some cases block these negative channels as much as possible, and make my filiter of ‘channels’ more positive and more alligned with the values are deem most important in my online world. Maybe you like TV show slike Doctor Who, or like to follow celebrities like Joe Sugg and Dianne Buswell, they are very positive people, and overtime would subtly influence you and your mood. That is why it is imperative for you to filter you mediums of online channels to an overall positive outlook. I want to make clear, I am not saying don’t pay attention to the negative in its entirity, demonising negativity only makes things worse, and the very act of demonising, is in actuality a negative thing in of itself. I am just saying make the skew of your content and information more positive and uplifiting.
Also, I would ask for you to be aware of your own posts and reactions when you read other peoples posts, and wether these channels are worth keeping on your online feed, maybe even take a break from social media entirely if it isnt contributing to your wellbeing or growth.
Remember your world is created with what you consume, not only with the food you eat, and the water you drink but also with what you feed your brain. SO, I ask you to use these channels with awareness and great care, but also with an excited opportunitst gleam in your eye, perhaps you could be the next beacon of light, shining for all to see, making and living up to your highest values and making this world a better place for all.
Subscribe to My Newsletter
Click edit button to change this text. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
