Spiralize the latest news reports? Check out Christy Murdock’s 5 tips.
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Tell me my dirty little secret: I’ve been training and writing about content marketing for nearly 10 years, but if I had druthers, I have no social media presence at all. For me, social media is a place to share content, but that’s not where I wander around.
Most of this is because a news cycle and opinionated commenter can take over your feed and cause stress, fear and frustration. Fortunately, I learned early on how it was up to me to control the content I incorporate and how it didn’t affect my mood.
Below are five ways to ensure you are consumed with the news you need.
1. Focus
Maybe you might choose to focus on local and state political issues and elections rather than national issues. Maybe you’re focusing more on the way that the news affects your real estate business and economy. Rather than trying to find out everything happening every day, such as LGBTQ+ rights, DEI, or technology platform policies, we may focus on specific issues.
You can’t keep up with everything, and for the peace of your mind, you probably shouldn’t. Focusing gives you more control over your emotional response.
2. Limit consumption
Consider subscribing to newsletters such as Morning Brew and the Daily Email Roundup of your local newspaper. Instead of constantly scrolling through your social media feed, seek more and more news coverage, check that newsletter when it hits your inbox and then leave it as is.
Consider taking a day or two off each week and make them news-free so you can protect your peace. Don’t forget that news coverage is designed for quick clicks and maximum page views. Curated feeds from trustworthy sources can give you a full picture while keeping you away from the rabbit hole.
3. Curate the feed
The next time you scroll through your social media feed, be aware of how you react to the content you are viewing.
Are there any suggested accounts to boil your blood? Snooze proposal from the algorithm. Are there any sudden political accounts without adding anything other than vitriol to the conversation? It may be time to mute or unlock.
Even if they agree with your perspective, the creators of content who live only to keep you excited will not help you feel better.
Consider booking some social media accounts for information and education, and letting others escape. For example, LinkedIn could be a place to catch up with serious conversations about the day’s news, while Instagram is a place for inspirational quotes, cat videos and other fun content.
Finally, consider adopting social media at a faster rate of over a week and batch schedule your content with tools like buffers rather than logging in every day.
4. Consider a new platform
New social media platforms like Bluesky and Threads offer more options to avoid customization and sources of more prominent and political misinformation that thrives on Facebook and X, previously known as Twitter It may be possible. (Check out Jessi Healey’s trending column for more information about the new platform.)
If there is a platform that no longer works for you or you don’t want to join anymore, consider deleting content or disabling your account. Below are instructions to do so not just from Tiktok, but also from Meta and X platforms.
5. Touching the grass
This is where we get to the heart of it: replacing extermination with positive and productive actions taken in the real world.
Spend some of your previous time staring at your phone in the following ways:
Volunteer for reasons you believe you work every day to grow and refine your business to film your class. A yoga studio, gym, or a new sport, where you can play a new sport, such as a club, church, or professional organization – learn instruments, try plays at your local community theater, or try art classes. Please take the course.
The key is to get off your phone and get off your head and replace the negative news and content with positive momentum to pay dividends to your own life and the communities you serve.
Once you’ve come into the real world, you may find yourself starting a truly important conversation. You meet people with different perspectives. You are exposed to new ideas. You broaden your horizons and broaden your perspective – and that’s good for you and the world.
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