Social media has been a part of our lives for a long time. It is all around us and very hard to avoid them as they are kind of integrated to our socializing activities. With that being said, let's talk about how we could use them in a more intelligent way or as the title suggests more consciously.
Let me start with a quote straight away.
"Social media didn't change us. It exposed us."
That is true. Just because you use a social media platform, it will not change you. You will always remain the same person. Let's just think about it a minute. If you see some of your friends on one of these media, you will notice, that they have not changed, but their characteristics will be exaggerated. For instance if they are shy, they will be shy there as well. Of course they can disguise it with photos or posts, but basically the person remains exactly the same as they are in real life.
There is no problem with social media as it is, but the problem is, that the way we use them. They provide the user interface and let's not forget, that we are the ones who fill them up with our contents and we are the consumers. If you feel lack of self-confidence, it doesn't mean, that the social media made you feel that way.
The control is still in your hand. You choose to follow or not follow a friend if they make you feel uncomfortable by seeing what they are posting. If you compare yourself to them that is your mistake and either stop comparing or stop following the person.
Change one thing
To be able to change even one thing regarding using social media, it shouldn't be starting and finishing your day by using it. This little thing, that you can apply from today, will bring a huge result. I encourage you to try it for a week to not look at it first thing in the morning and not to log in before you go to bed. By doing this you will see, that you will be well-balanced and your day will start much better and easier.
The reason why is, that your precious time in the morning, that is usually very short before you go to work, will not be given away for other people and your evening will be more enjoyable with your family at home, because you can spend quality time with them.
Set your limit
There is one more thing, that you can do on your smart phone is to set the usage limit within the application. Why is it important in my opinion. Because for example if you set your limit for 30 minutes a day, you will get a reminder, saying you have 5 minutes left from your time to use it. Of course you can just ignore it and continue scrolling, but I bet you never notice 25 minutes, when you use for example the social media giant and we tend to waste way more time for basically nothing.
Have given value
Filter your followings. Be sure, that you follow or friend people who you know in person and the ones who inspires or motivates you. You will see and be surprised, your friend list will be dramatically reduced and you will not see that much unnecessary posts day by day. Try to avoid to pointlessly scroll your feed, because you can easily spend 20-30 minutes of your time and you did not get anywhere.
All you will see is, people who you may not interested in they post what they did, what they bought, where they are having their holiday, what they eat and all sort of things. That can make you feel envy and make you feel discouraged if you compare yourself to them, but if you follow people, who give you value, then you already made your spent time worthy.
Stay as you are
Stay in your own reality and don't let yourself being influenced. Social media is the "new TV" in regards of advertising. You see products and services day after day, that you have never seen before and it will never be on TV or radio. If you are following influencers try not to be manipulated by them and try not to have them as your idol. It can considerably lower your self-confidence and your self-esteem.
