This year, between 5.35 billion and 4.9 billion people use social media daily. The takeaway is that a large portion of the Earth’s population spends time on social media.
One source suggests we average 2 hours and 31 minutes every day on social media; another pegs the number at 2 hours and 24 minutes. One estimate claims humans spend more than 4 trillion hours globally each day.
Negativity and Social Media
It is indeterminable how much of this content is negative, but a survey in May 2023 found that 37 percent of worldwide users believe the platforms should allow harmful content. The prevalence of negativity on social media is evident in various studies.
For instance, a Pew Research Center survey discovered that 32 percent of teens believe social media has a negative effect on people their age. Another Pew insight revealed that nearly two-thirds of Americans (64 percent) say social media has a mostly negative impact on how things are going in their country.
Furthermore, in 2023, 31 percent of adults reported that social media harms their mental health.
How to Protect Your Mindset
It might seem like I spend a lot of time on social media, but in reality, I spend very little time on social platforms. I do dedicate an hour to writing a blog post for this platform and adapting it for LinkedIn, and I take a few minutes to respond to comments there. Outside of that, I limit my time online to protect my mindset from the negative effects of social media, including the pervasive negativity online. By minimizing my exposure to these negative influences, I use a few strategies to maintain a healthier and more balanced mental state.
Strategy 1: Remove Phone Apps
The first thing you might consider doing to protect your mindset is to remove social media apps from your smartphone. Remember, I am encouraging you to go on a Negativity Fast. The sole social app on my phone is YouTube, as I enjoy listening to content on positive topics, mostly about writing or books. Begin by removing the apps, a step that will prevent you from turning to social media to fill time.
Strategy 2: Curate Your Feeds
Social media is still akin to the wild, wild west. If you are going to spend time on social media, curate your feeds. On X/Twitter, for example, build a list of your family members so you can keep up with your loved ones. Once you have that list, create a list of your closest friends. Then, create a list of positive content creators whose posts you enjoy. Avoid users who post things that spark negative feelings like fear, outrage, or hopelessness. This is difficult because social media platforms promote posts that elicit strong reactions, and those posts tend to be negative.
Strategy 3: Remove Negative People and Content
Negativity is a poison. Some social media platforms deliver negativity in large doses because that is how they can maximize their revenue. When you ingest this poison daily, you risk weakening your mindset, which is your most important tool in our ACDC environment (accelerating, constant disruptive change).
Avoid any accounts designed to incite outrage or fear, or content intended to spark an argument over a news story or event. The more negative the source, the less valuable it is for your mindset and your mental health.
Strategy 4: Limit Your Time Spent on Social Media
We used to worry about how much time people spent watching television. Now the concern has shifted to how much time we spend in front of screens—big screens, computer screens, laptops, iPads, and the small screen of infinite scrolling, your smartphone.
If the numbers above are accurate, the average person spends almost three hours a day on social media. I haven’t researched what social media does to our productivity, but it can’t be beneficial. Imagine what you could accomplish with three extra hours a day. Perhaps you can live with an hour of social media.
Strategy 5: No Screen Time
If you want to feel better, define periods of time when you don’t use your phone or tablet. Turn it off or put it away an hour before sleep. This means no scrolling before bedtime. In the hours you used to scroll, you could read that book on your nightstand. You will sleep much better, which is crucial if you want to be positive, optimistic, and future-oriented.
Even though your phone serves as your alarm clock, when you turn off your alarm in the morning, leave the phone where it lies. You don’t need to take it into the bathroom or carry it around with you as you start your day.
Strategy 6: Reset Your Algorithm
Just for fun, search for “babies laughing” or “animal friends”. Do this every day until you train the algorithm to show that you are interested in videos of these topics. Your new searches will help displace the negative videos you have consumed in the past, making it more likely that positive content shows up in your feed.
Negativity in Social Media: How to Protect Your Mental Space
One of the most significant things you can do for your mindset and mental health is to stop consuming negativity, especially negativity online. The fewer the sources of negativity in your media diet, the better you will feel. Some of us have given up on television news, particularly cable news shows designed to divide us from our neighbors, in favor of more positive and balanced media consumption. Reducing exposure to negative online content can significantly improve your overall well-being.
Since this negative news finds its way to social platforms, you must refuse to give that content and their creators your attention. The social media algorithm is engineered to steal your attention, keeping you glued to the platform and its advertisers.
If you want to feel better, be more productive, and spend your time on what is important, you can start by removing or reducing the sources of negativity on social media.
