Social media plays such a huge role in our everyday lives. I don't know about y'all, but it seems like I can't let a day go by without taking a look at Instagram, Twitter, and most of all, Pinterest. Not only does social media provide excellent networking opportunities, but it makes communication faster than ever and in my opinion, it's a must have.
It's important to set high standards when it comes to connections online, and with that comes ensuring that you're only seeing what you want to. We spend enough time using these apps and websites already; there's no need to waste it scrolling through negative (or even just annoying) content. I "clean" my social media accounts about once a month, and using them afterwords is so refreshing. Spring is the season of renewal, and now is a great time to begin if you haven't refreshed your social media before. Here's how I do it!
Unfriend and Unfollow: Take the time to sort through your following on Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat, your blogging platform, and Instagram and your friends on Facebook. Who do you really want to see posts from? If you're not genuinely interested in what someone is posting, delete them. "Muting" on Twitter and "Unfollowing" on Facebook are great ways to keep users off your timeline without actually deleting them permanently from your account, so there are no hard feelings.
Unsubscribe: Scroll through all your email accounts and take the time to unsubscribe from any unwanted newsletters or mailing lists. It's usually as easy as clicking a link on the bottom of a message and keeps your inbox so much cleaner. While you're on your email account, delete any old contacts you don't use too.
Clear Out Messages: Clear out any old and unnecessary emails, DMs, or messages that you no longer need. This works for text messages too!
Turn Off Push Notifications: If you use a smart phone, turn off push notifications for all your social media apps. I turned mine off during a social media cleanse I tried about three months ago and still haven't turned them back on simply because if you think about it, you really don't need them. All your notifications will still be there when you open the app, but they won't pop up at distracting times.
Take A Weekend Off: As the weather gets warmer and the days get longer, make an effort to really live out your days. Taking a weekend off from social media if you're a frequent user is a great way to focus on what's really important. Remember, nothing on social media is that important that it can't wait until Monday. If this is too much for you, start with just staying away for a day. Go out for the night with your friends and leave your phone in the car. Trust me, it's refreshing.
Aside from social media, there are plenty of great way to clean out your phone too. Delete old pictures on your camera roll, apps that you don't use, and contacts that you no longer need. Delete music that you don't listen to any more or just downloaded because it was free (guilty!). I'm constantly cleaning my apps and clearing my caches, but if that's not something you usually do, it's a must as well!
What do you do to clean out your social media? How frequently do you do it? Let me know!
