Turning Mindless Scrolling into Mindful Scrolling
How to make your social media scrolling meaningful?
Hello Creators!
What is the first thing you do when you wake up and go to sleep? Is it reaching for your phone and playing the slot machine with a blank mind and your eyes fixed? As much as we would like to avoid it - we still check our phones first thing in the morning and before bedtime. That's the answer of many people.
Creators don't have a choice to stay away from social media for long but you do have a choice to make your scrolling impactful and not meaningless filled with reels on just one viral audio. Let’s not forget who’s in control; we’re the ones holding the device and scrolling, and so the power is literally in our hands. Let’s look at some ways to turn it into mindful scrolling.
Connect with like-minded people: Sometimes it's hard to find people with the same interests in real life. Social media is a great way to connect with people who share similar interests and aspirations as you, this way you’ll be able to learn more related to your interests and field.
Be self-aware of how social media makes you feel: Be honest with yourself about how coming across some X person’s post makes you feel. Do you feel guilty, angry, or inadequate? And do others make you feel inspired, positive and hopeful? Unfollow by choosing wisely between the content which makes an impact on you. This decision must be on you after being aware of how you feel about their content.
Set your intentions before logging in: Let’s all agree that whenever we are bored we take out our phones and start scrolling mindlessly on Instagram or Youtube. This happens because of the lack of intention of why you are scrolling. What are you looking for? Is it finding inspiration, catching up with friends, or just zoning out a bit and watching funny dog/cat videos? Set your intentions before you click on the app.
Consuming more long-form content: With features like Instagram Reels and Youtube Shorts, our attention span has been tailored to consume short-form content with just 15 or 30 seconds video which makes us scroll more and more - mindlessly. Shift your consumption more to long-form content which teaches you something new or you are able to extract anything useful. This can also be done by figuring out your interests.
Twitter: @kulutdraws
Use features that tailor down your interests: We can’t thank the social media platforms enough for features such as Mute story/posts and customizing your newsfeed on Facebook. It is essential to negate content that does not provide enough value to you at that moment for example you may not want to see X person’s content at this time so you can temporarily mute their stories/posts.
Also, keep in mind that social media platforms use algorithms to try to figure out what you like based on your behavior, so don’t engage with any content that you don’t want to see.
Some interesting things we came across
1. Gen Z is eroding the power of misinformation
As the first generation to grow up with social media, Gen Z has an innate understanding of how to create and move online content, which makes them less susceptible to misinformation. Read more here.
2. How to read more by Austin Kleon
If you aren’t getting anything out of a book, put it down, and pick up another book.
Every hour you spend inching through a boring book is an hour you could’ve spent plowing through a brilliant. When it comes to books, quitters finish more
Read more here.
3. Ways to support your artist friends
4. The everyday objects that got us through the lockdown.
In Future Archaeology of a Global Lockdown, the ethnographer compiles over 1000 images taken by individuals in 50 countries, telling their lockdown tale through 15 artifacts. Read here.
5. Creative mental health: what toll did 2020 take, and what have we learned for the year ahead?
International designers and artists share their personal experiences with lockdown, financial stress, and a dramatic upturning of work-life, by way of catharsis, reflection, and advice for 2021. Read the full article here.
Let us know in the comments below how do you make sure to scroll mindfully. We would love to hear the suggestions you have. You can also reach out to us on our social media handle @platfromforartists
Take care of your mental health, talk to your loved ones, stay safe and hydrate yourself.
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