Social (Media) Distancing
Social Distancing is extremely important in keeping the Coronavirus from spreading. But what about Social Media Distancing? Isn’t that just as important? I think so because by distancing ourselves from over-saturation of too much social media viewing will prevent us from significant panic and unreliable news that may or may not be factual. We are “spreading the virus” online every time we view this stuff in our stream without taking into consideration the sources or even how often we are being subjected to the negative.
Staying home is vital, but add to it a list of things that are not healthy as you do so: too much engagement on social media is one of those things. I personally find it unnerving and a drain of energy to be subjected to too much that comes along the internet superhighway.
Keep in mind that while I say that, I do understand how important it is to be able to communicate with people, whether that is for business or respite. Social media becomes our pipeline and our family and friendship check in. And that’s important, as long as we don’t overdue it.
Here are some suggestions on how you can maintain your social media connections, manage your social media time, and still distance yourself from the negativity that may be infiltrating your spirit at times when you are simply not prepared.
Put your shields up! Putting up imaginary shields around your body each morning will help to protect you from negativity that tries to zap your energy field. The creative visualization technique is to place your hands in pray-like position, close your eyes and imagine a green tube rising up around your body. Let that green tube have mirrors that face out to ricochet any negative vibes out and away from you. (I usually imagine the old Star Trek TV series of when they where in the teleport and would say “activate shields” and a green tube came up around them to transport them.) I have a friend who has a sign on her bathroom mirror that says “shields up,” so she remembers to do so after her shower!
2. Whether for business or pleasure, decide on specific times of the day to check in on social media accounts, and try to stick to those times, rather than checking in all day long. This is more important now that many are Staying Home and social distancing. So it will be tempting to just sit there on line… scrolling. Personally, I stick to three times a day: morning for about 5–10 minutes, depending on what I have going on; afternoon, the same as morning, and for evening I may go a little longer, but not more than 20 minutes.
3. Limit the news to just what you need to know and from a source that is verified. Though alerts change fast, trust that you will be notified on a need to know, rather than being fed the news from the moment you open your eyes to the moment you go to sleep. (And to those of you who are picking up the phone in the middle of the night: STOP!)
4. Do your best to limit your engagement in terms of making negative comments as they will serve no purpose except to make you the only one to feel better. That’s called “dumping” and it’s not fair to anyone, not even to you. You would be better served to start a journal and write your heart out on those pages.
5. Be very discerning in what you wish to read. Allowing your energy to be infiltrated by all sorts of negativity is never a good thing, and many people become depressed on social media because they are communicating on comments that strangers are making. You do not need a stranger’s approval and you certainly don’t need to open yourself to negativity.
So….I would suggest adding some Social Media Distancing to Social Distancing in general. Be well, stay safe…and STAY HOME, PLEASE!
