Twitter used to be my happy place – conversations, camaraderie, the occasional inside joke and sly tweets; books, blogs, art, life – most of the discussions were centred around those topics. There were also the complaining tweets and the feeling sorry for myself tweets, and there was always someone who was ready to respond with some love or a funny gif.
Over time, though, Twitter has become more like a toxic wasteland. There are a few patches of green here and there that remind me of what I loved and lost; for the most part though, all that I see on the platform is politics, hate, polarizing news, and fake news.
In such an environment, it can get really difficult to look after my mental health, because Twitter is also where I choose to be for exposure and visibility – the two ever-elusive dreams that most bloggers chase!
So what’s a HSP/empath to do? Here are four strategies that I have tried that have been quite effective.
4 tips to navigate Twitter as an HSP
Social media break: I generally avoid social media on the weekends. My only exception is Instagram {which I check on Saturday}, and a designated one-hour slot to share some blog love on Sundays.
Scheduling tweets: I take about 10 minutes or so on alternate days to schedule some tweets so that I can dip in to Twitter in real time depending on my schedule and mental health.
Limited time slots on Twitter: Instead of refreshing my Twitter feed at very regular intervals, I hop on to the platform about 3 to 4 times a day for not more than 5-10 minutes. That’s more than enough time to respond to mentions and quickly glance through my feed for anything interesting.
Unfollow accounts: I’ve unfollowed all news accounts and a lot of accounts that only talk politics. I also mute accounts and conversations from time to time, especially when they disturb my mental peace.
Of course, I slip up occasionally and log on to Twitter more often than I should. Each time, though, I realize that the constant hate and the focus on everything that is wrong with the world does no favours to my mental health. So I continue to disengage from the hate-mongering, and increase my focus on the things I enjoy and that add meaning to my life.
What that means for me is an increased focus on art, mindfulness, soulful living, cute cat photographs, and less outrage and politics.
What about you? What are your thoughts on social media, and if you have any other strategies that you use to minimize exposure to the hatred on these platforms, do let me know!
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It’s very difficult to find good content on twitter. I sometimes just scroll to check updates on my friends. I like the idea of limited time slots. But sometimes one gets so lost 🙂
I guess it’s all about following the right accounts on Twitter, though you’re right – sometimes good content seems hard to come by.
I’ve not been much of a Twitter person, so I’m glad that I’m unaffected for the most part. However, it seems like Twitter has given licence to a whole lot of bigots to spread their hate!
Oh yeah – all the bigots seem to have descended on the platform, which is a shame. Differences of opinion are perfectly fine and natural, this venom and hatred that we are currently seeing isn’t.
Twitter can be a sucker of energy with all the negativity. I have realised it is not a platform for me. I do not have much interactions there. I just check in to see any mentions or who is following me whereby I block accounts of political handles, hate spreaders and fake accounts. Facebook is my happy place.
That block button is so handy! I’ve fallen out of love with Facebook; I only use it for the groups now.
I haven’t been too active on Twitter except for when I need to share some blog love. All that hatred on social media is surely disturbing but I’ve come to using the unfollow button quite liberally and that really helps.
Yup, unfollow is a god-send! 😉
I’ve lost interest with twitter. I’m enjoying the instagram experience probably because photos and videos interest me more.
I love Instagram too! It’s my happy place for sure!
Wow Gypsy Girl. What is HSP? I really don’t understand this twitter business and am completely at sea. Trying to understand has led me to a great ‘battle’ with my better half who is convinced that the iPhone is the third wheel in our marriage 🙁
HSP is a highly sensitive person, what we would call thin skinned. And I totally understand your better half’s sentiment – the iPhone has become the third wheel in almost all relationships! We’re all addicted to our phones in one way or another. 🙁
Thanks for explaining
Hello gypsy girl. I am relatively new to twitter. I try and avoid haters and depressing stuff. That said, I do think it’s a useful platform for sharing campaigns as that is doing rather than moaning and not acting. I don’t go on much but by the sound of it, that’s a good thing. #MixitUp
Yeah, best to limit Twitter usage and be careful of whom you are following! 😉
Twitter according to me is abetter platform in terms of visibility than facebook. If one learns to ignore the negativity, its actually a lovely place indeed.
Yeah, I do prefer Twitter over Facebook. The Facebook algorithms made it almost impossible for me to see the updates that I am actually interested in. And Facebook pages – the less said about those the better! I don’t know how people get any sort of interaction or reach on pages; I’ve tried everything {except ads} and it just doesn’t work!
This is true. I was so happy when I found such talented artists and bloggers on Twitter. I enjoyed all those campaigns that were held and brain storming sessions arranged by some accounts. Creativity was full on. But now it has become a sad place. A wasteland indeed.
Yes! I’ve been on a blocking and unfollowing spree; and also turning off RTs from some accounts and that is helping to an extent. The artists and creatives are still there; they’re just a little harder to find. Also, I think there’s been a rise in activism world over, which of course spills over into social media too. So, we just got to sift through carefully – cut out the haters and focus on the more positive aspects as much as we can.
I don’t spend much time on social media anyway and Twitter probably very little, to be honest, so it doesn’t impact me but I totally get your point. Best to move away and claim your inner peace by avoiding all that is draining you with negativity. It really isn’t worth it, Shinjini.
That’s true, Esha! Inner peace above all else. I’ve become increasingly mindful about time spent on social media, and exactly what it is that I am doing/engaging with on these platforms.
I agree, time on Twitter (and for that matter most social platforms) needs to be regulated for maintaining our sanity and peace of mind. Love your tips!
I honestly dont have time for these hate and negative debates on social media. While I am not so active on Twitter, but have been seeing such drama on Facebook. So unfollowing such drama queens/kings works best for me. I like your idea of spending only few minutes on these social platforms.
Unfollowing is the best strategy I think. And the hatred and drama kings and queens should be the first to be muted/unfollowed!
I do really love Twitter but like you say the mute button is a very handy thing to protect our mental health and mood. Congratulations ! Someone loved your post so much they added it to the #blogcrush linky
Oh! I haven’t heard of this linky; will have to look it up! And a big thank you to whoever loved this post and shared it! 🙂
You’ll find us over on Twitter on a Friday !! Be great to see you x
at the perfect time just what i needed. thank you for this post!
2019 is coming to an end and this is oh so relevant! struggling right now, especially with the hate on twitter