Stressed about Social Media?

:) (:

My dad told me about an article he read in the paper this week that said the anxiety people my age (in their 20s) feel in relation to maintaining their social media accounts is the same kind of stress our bodies feel when facing a moving train head on. Our bodies, the article said, can't tell the difference.

That got me wondering about my own social media behaviour. I pin, I don't Facebook, I tweet, I don't Facebook. I also Instagram, but it didn't fit into the little rhythm I had going there. The main point I'm going to make it that, yes, I do get stressed about my social media. The trick is to manage your intake to combat that frenetic energy.

When I'm in the midst of a busy homework weekend--let's face it, that's most of them lately--I don't want to hear about how far behind my classmates are on their own projects. I've got enough of my plate right now without heaping some of yours onto it, thank you. So, I leave my Instagram feed unchecked until Monday morning. Then it's a nice little catch up with friends by the virtual water cooler. The second I see a photo of one of my friends chilling out with a glass of wine mid-Saturday--or worse, two of them--I feel like a complete dud because I stayed in with my laptop and sweats.

But the other side of it, because there's always another side, is when I need a ten minute break from the proposal I'm working on or the copy I'm trying to write and I log into Pinterest to browse for ideas for my ad design. It's still productive, but it's fun.

So, I'm left with the conclusion (wow, I haven't used that word in a while) that social media is what you make of it. And how much you buy into the instantaneousness of it all. It may be instant, but your response doesn't have to be.

Next time you feel like you're starting down a speeding train, turn your phone onto vibrate. Half the time the thing doesn't work and you won't hear the alerts for hours.

Later,

       (and try to de-stress)