There may not be a magic bullet to improve our mood and daily well-being, but a simple change in the way we use social media can make a real difference. This change is quick, easy, and according to many experts, brings tangible results.
The Guardian's well-being journalist, Madeleine Aggeler, decided to try a simple strategy: mute some users on social media.
The process varies from platform to platform, the feature may be called mute, snooze , or restrict , but the goal is the same. It gradually "cleans" our timeline of posts from people who, for whatever reason, ruin our mood, without having to remove them from our friends list.
Aggeler says he chose to mute some people for various reasons. Some he didn't want to remove from his friends list, while others he both unfollowed and muted to avoid their posts appearing through other people's reposts.
Among them was a famous person who had once treated her badly over a work issue, another who had insulted a friend of hers, as well as a former partner. According to her, these people's posts brought out the worst in her.
Every time she saw them on social media, she felt anger and frustration. In moments of nervousness, she even had the absurd idea of ??putting up signs around the city showing how insufferable they were.
But after she decided to "delete" them on almost all platforms, the situation changed. If someone doesn't mention them in conversation, she often forgets that these people exist.
"I have erased them from the lush garden of my mind," she says.
Bailey Parnell, founder and president of the Center for Digital Wellbeing, also confirms that this strategy can be very helpful. According to her, when we remove accounts that constantly bother us, we set boundaries that create a healthier digital environment.
"In this way, people protect their mental health while also maintaining their social or professional networks," she explains.
However, experts point out that this is not always as simple as it seems. In some cases, posts that irritate us may attract us precisely because they trigger strong emotions.
Therapist Monica Amorosi explains that after an intense emotion, a dopamine burst can also occur. If life is monotonous and lacking in stimuli, consuming content that irritates us can become a form of entertainment or distraction.
However, Amorosi warns that we shouldn't go to the extreme of excluding any opinion or information we don't like. This can trap us in a "bubble of ignorance."
Instead, she suggests that social networks be used primarily as a source of positive information, education, and connection with people who share common interests.
According to this logic, it is better to remove those people who constantly irritate us without offering us anything of value, for example, a colleague who does nothing but constantly brag about his successes.
This way, in addition to peace of mind, we can also gain some valuable time. As Aggeler himself says, often when he avoids such posts, he saves a few minutes that he would otherwise spend taking screenshots and complaining to friends.
