Technology in general and social media in particular, can be considered both a blessing and a curse. The convenience of accessing an avalanche of information to answer our questions is undeniable. The interconnectivity to everyone else in the world makes the world smaller and communication possible anytime, anywhere. These and more make technology and social media truly a manna from heaven.
On the flipside, it could emit the kind of toxicity that can threaten our mental well-being.
The recent election put this concept to the test. For months, the disparity in preciously held political opinions created a raucous online behavior in our community where the resulting strain was felt by so many. Images shattered, friendships and family ties severed; and for some, a depleted social media connection.
Now the million-peso-question is: Is it okay then, to unfriend or unfollow people? Is it rude or immature of us to do so? What does it say about us?
And like everything else, it has its pros and cons.
Truly, unfollowing or even unfriending people on social media cannot be attributed to immaturity or rudeness if it compromises our mental well-being. If exposing ourselves to the chatter that we find toxic can make us unbalanced in many ways, then perhaps it is time for us to be brave enough to swallow the bitter pill. Here are some of the advantages of social media “purging.”
Change is constant. People change. Our interests change. Whatever it is that brought about the change, unfollowing pages and people that no longer holds your interests cannot be qualified as rude. Instead, it may bring about a fresher and a clearer take on things. Remember, we are not obligated to follow anything or anyone.
Let’s face it, not all our circle of ‘friends’ on social media are joined with us at the hip. The bigger the crowd, the louder the noise. Is the noise getting the better of us? Does it affect us negatively? Whose voices are they anyway? Then it would not hurt to tone down our social media crowd and manage the voices we hear. Sometimes, it results to siphoning our connection to our family, friends, and closest colleagues and associations.
Technology and its importance in carrying out our professional and personal tasks makes it a staple in our daily lives. Since making it a part of our daily morning ritual is most of the time unavoidable, purging our social media newsfeed with the most important interests zeroes us in to the businesses at hand and savesus our precious time. The less clutter, the easier our lives can be.
Most of the time, social media projects the rosy side of the apple to the world. Travels, accomplishments, celebrations, the best side of life are all over it. If it creates jealousy and feelings of insecurity and inadequacy in ourselves, then unfollowing, unsubscribing or deleting cannot be held against us. Likewise, if contents erode respect to and for people, then snoozing the noise they create on our newsfeeds may become a saving grace instead. Social media should not be a liability in preserving our values and good ideals.
Yes, even those whose ways we find unsettling and is affecting us negatively. They are not like clothes or anything that can be discarded as we see fit. Thus, unfriending and unfollowing a person is an act that needs to be really thought through.
Facebook assures us that people we unfriend would not know it. Is it enough of an assurance, really? In the most inopportune moment that they do know, it may cause question, and hurt to the person unfriended. Some may take offense, even to them being least of our acquaintances.
Unfriending may result to unanswered questions, self-doubt and awkwardness towards persons in a relationship especially with people closest to us.
Though for most, in-person social interactions are more meaningful and lasting, younger generations tend to give importance to engagements on social media. Thus, for some numbers of followers and engagements on these platforms usually equates to self esteem and acceptance. Depletion of engagement circles may lead to smaller, restricted social environment.
All these being said, it is a discretion given to each of us who we keep on our social media circle. However, the act of unfriending may likewise have a long-term or lasting consequence on our relationships. If we can help it, perhaps it is still best to practice restraint and seek other solutions where we can preserve both our mental well-being and our social media friends list. One way is to go through the basic ways of doing self-care: taking a break from social media and focusing on other productive hobbies and interests.
Limiting social media use in a day and simply skimming our newsfeeds without taking note of those that we deem are least healthy can give us more energy to focus our attention on our responsibilities as students, employees, daughters, sons, parents at the same time giving us ample time to engage in our interests and/or learn a whole lot of new things besides. The balance it will create in our lives is a sure way to preserve the mental well-being that we all aspire to protect.