10 ways to make your social media timeline a happy place

Social media has become a way of life for most of us. People can post anything on them — from sweet compliments, adventurous experiences to snarky one-liners. But in all those innocent posts, social media has been held responsible for a lot of negativity to the point that most find it difficult to find ourselves in this chaotic mess. What if you wanted a place to just celebrate and share the small moments of happiness in life? A place where no happy moment is too small and no-kind of negativity are allowed. Orkut Buyukkokten, founder of Orkut and Hello, suggests a few ways that one can adapt to make social media a happy place for everyone.

Find your passion

Social media is like a vast playground where there are many players trying to woo you to join them in their quest through their offerings. The process of experimenting can be overwhelming but let your passion be your guide. Find a platform where you can talk and meet people who share the same passions as you do. In the process, you might end up exploring new opportunities, finding new interests, and even making new friends.

Feed on the positivity

Trolls and memes have taken the better of the social media that we consume every day which mostly leads to negativity. Rather than adding fuel to the fire and spreading negativity, we can always choose to focus on content that is positive or stand for a cause that makes the world a better place.

Relevance

There is an amazing amount of content circulating on social media every day. Some you consume and some you don’t but don’t you feel like in the process of ignoring irrelevant content you’re wasting your time or sometimes you miss out on something really interesting just because you first thought it is not of your concern? There are various social media platforms where news feeds have content relevant to you and will help you save time and save you from #FOMO.

Human connections

The foundation of social media is to bridge time and space, allowing you to connect with people globally as well as in your own neighbourhood. Hence, we must take this platform as a way to form new connections while sustaining the old ones. So if you have not been touch with an old friend for a long time, go ahead and drop him/her a message or just send an old picture of yours. It can lead to a fresh start.

Educate yourself

Apart from conversations around people’s photos, social media is a colossal mine with exceptional insights. While you are socializing and meeting people from all walks of life, it is also helpful for your own overall development to use social media to sift through content that you find insightful.

A sense of belonging

Every one of us wants to feel a sense of belonging and on social media, it is no exception. Communities and pages on social media are meant to solve the purpose of getting people with similar passions and interests together on one platform. For eg: a community made for tea lovers where people from different walks of life discuss how the tea is made at their respective areas or suggestions of places where you get tea which others have never heard can be interesting and more participative by others who have joined the group.

Be yourself

Last but not the least, social media should be the place where you can be yourself. It should be a place to express yourself without the sense of feeling judged. Share a joke which you think is funny, share your experiences that you think your friends would be interested in, let your friends know if you need some kind of help. In social media, you are your own brand, hence, it’s all about expressing yourself in a way where you are letting people know who you are and what you stand for.

Protect yourself

While you are enjoying everything social media has to offer, you have to make sure that you are protecting yourself. There have been many cases of cyberbullying and plagiarism in the recent past where being cautious on your part is very important. Since it’s your life that you’re sharing and you’re representing yourself please make sure that you always check your privacy settings to ensure your safety in the online space.

Inspire and be inspired

Just a simple thing as sharing an inspirational quote can bring a change of attitude in someone’s life. If nothing else, then just take a day and thank someone for making a difference in your life, however big or small and who knows you might be their reason to smile and lift their spirits. 

Say Hello

It starts with hello. We all are social beings but making connections is not easy for everyone. Hence, taking advantage of the online platform where there is no real facetime, you can come across really interesting people just by taking the first step. A simple and friendly gesture like saying hello or sharing something that you love can be the start of something new and beautiful.

At the end of the day, it is all about the choices we make. Social media has a plethora of possibilities and opportunities and if we consciously use it, we can really make it a happy place for ourselves and make it a safe haven for others too.

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