Simplify Your Social Media

Social media is a doozy and anyone that uses any form of it will agree with that statement.  People use it for fun or for keeping in touch with others and some people run businesses with it.  But we tend to forget that even social media can be simplified.  You know how stressful it can be to have tons of notifications and feel like your feed is cluttered with things you don't want to see.  The truth is, that's all in your control so now is a good time to simplify your social media.
Each of these should can be applied to each of your social media platforms that you use whether it's Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, LinkedIn, or Pinterest.  

 

Delete What You Don't Want

The first place to start is getting rid of any platform you don't use. Of course some people just completely stop using a platform indefinitely but the problem with that is that it still exists out there for all to see depending on your privacy settings.  If you truly never wish to use a certain platform ever again, you can delete your profile or deactivate it if that's an option.  There's no sense in keeping something that you will never use.  Sometimes we sign up for something just to check it out before we lose interest.  This will leave you with only the platforms you want to continue to use or be found on.

 

Review Your Profile

This is an important step because this is all about YOU.  Update your profile photo and personal details and be mindful of what information you want out there.  Not everyone needs to know where you live so it's okay to just use a large city rather than your actual small hometown. 

 

If you don't want to have to update it regularly, stick to things that will stay the same.  For me personally, I use to list that I had 4 chihuahuas but when they started passing away, it made me sad to change that number.  I now just say I'm a Chihuahua mom! Keep it nice and simple.  Instead of typing sentences just use a few key words with a separator in between like Houseplant Addict | Book Lover | Dog Mom. 

Another part of your profile is how locked down it is.  Do you want everyone to be able to see certain details or only friends?  Make sure you check if you can specify these details on your profile.

 

Curate Your Feed

When people complain about the stuff they see on their feed they seem to forget that they are the ones that curate that feed on most platforms based on what they engage with.  If you don't want to see controversial posts, stop engaging with posts like that.  Focus on liking and engaging with what you want to see.   

This also means going on a careful unfollow/unfriend spree.  Go one by one through the list of those you are connected with and disconnect from those that you won't want to be connected with.  It may take some time but it's so worth it in the end. 

Moving forward, only follow and connect when it's something you want in the long run. 

Review Notification Settings

Go through the notification settings for every type of feature for that platform and choose how you receive notifications (email, SMS, in-app) as well as how often or how much.  I used to get Facebook notifications for everything under the sun.  Then I started looking up online how to get rid of certain notifications and I'd follow what it said.  I only get notifications for comments and likes on my posts now.  I also chose to keep event notifications. It's so nice not having a handful of notifications every time I look at my phone. 

 

Increase Security Settings

This is where you should change any passwords that aren't strong and make sure the email address connected with each platform is the one you currently use.  Set up 2 factor authentication so that if someone ever tries to login as you it will ask you to confirm.  This is the easiest way to prevent yourself from being hacked (aside from clicking on risky things) and it's a best practice with every form of social media. 

 

Organize Your Posts

For Facebook, I create a new album each year for photos of my dogs and an album for life in general.  When I post photos they go in either of those albums.  At the end of the year I download the album and store it on my hard drive.  It makes it easy for me to find my own photos from certain years on my page and on my computer.  

 

Sort Instagram stories into highlight albums and make a cute cover for each one.  Only post the best of the best things on social media.  There's no need to post embarrassing things you don't want to be reminded of years later.  Trust me, we are all guilty of making lame Facebook posts a decade or so ago but we can do better these days. 

I no longer waste time on my phone because I no longer get sucked into checking notifications then mindlessly scrolling.  This is all because I simplified all of the social media platforms I use and now I feel much better about my online presence.

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