Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious

calnewport.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

441–450 of 486 posts

Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious

#441

Post by 0xEFF »

akira2501 wrote: post #440
charstacker wrote: post #149

Consider the following scenario: You're pleased and content one minute, thinking your life is going fine the next. You have a few minutes to kill, so you log onto Facebook and begin scrolling... First, you notice a friend's post stating that she has accepted her ideal job. Then you read a coworker's too political rant. You continue browsing and see a video of your neighbour enjoying a fantastic tropical vacation. And…

Your describing social media as something that happens _to_ you. You should probably make it something you _choose_ to use. Too political rant? Skip it. Video of nothing relevant? Skip it. Your cousins photos? If you know they're not for you, why are you consuming them every time they drop? You choose to take your hands of the wheel, of course your going to be taken for a ride.

Driving in heavy traffic is exhausting. Going for a walk is refreshing.

Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious

#443

Post by johnnymorgan »

id wrote: post #310
sdevonoes wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I find it bizarre that you do. Why? Feeling envious is just human nature. Sure, one can argue that in our current society that kind of feeling is "bad", and we should "fix it". I tend to agree, but that you find it bizarre, it's bizarre to me :D Oh well, maybe you are a machine (based on your nickname), so yeah, machines do not have imperfections (just kidding).

It's definitely not "human nature" to feel envy towards your friends and family, unless you have been wronged by them.

It's so well documented it's even a legit part of the Bible kekw

I guess you're a saint and the rest of us are just dirty sinners haha.

Envy, as I stated, is just an emotion. What the person does with it is where the moral and ethical sides come into play.

If it pushes me to do better in my life, I'll almost certainly mature past that emotion.

Someone else mentioned meditation and I heartily agree, mindset is how you approach the emotions.

"Anger is a great servant but a terrible Master" -- some guy in a fantasy novel

Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious

#444

Post by heavyset_go »

I took a permanent break from social media and am much happier about it. These days, I only keep a slim business-oriented presence on some social media networks.

For the communities that I want to engage in that have moved over to social media, I use anonymized burner accounts that are in no way associated with who I actually am, and I don't follow or interact with people I actually know in real life. I like it this way.

Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious

#445

Post by RajT88 »

guerrilla wrote: post #340
RajT88 wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mosquitos. Poison ivy. If he is growing his own food - a variety of animals will be eating the veggies. Rabbits, cabbage moths (evil bastards), groundhogs, raccoons...

Cabbage moths are the worst... The other things seem pretty avoidable though...

I guess the other animals there's strategies to deal with them.

Poison ivy sneaks up on you. Young plants can be hard to see, and if you're like me, you won't know you've been exposed for a few days... And then it's ALL OVER.

Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious

#446

Post by laputan_machine »

mitchdoogle wrote: post #370
laputan_machine wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never felt envy towards my friends and family. No, never. I find it bizarre that you do. I never said I don't feel envy. You jumped to conclusions based on a very little sentence I wrote. I currently have a very severe skin condition, and I live in a country with 'free' healthcare. I am envious that some people get medical treatment for it and can live a normal life again and some people do not (such as myself).…

Suppose you tell a friend about a job you're applying to, they think it sounds nice, so they apply too and they get the job and you don't. You're not jealous of that? Or maybe your brother and you have a crush on the same woman. He asks her out and they start dating. You aren't jealous. Or just suppose you always wanted something at home, a hot tub, a big screen tv, a walk-in closet, a home office, whatever, and you…

- I've been in this situation and I was joyed for my mate, I ended up getting a better offer from elsewhere so it worked out anyway. He's still there, now as a lead architect

- This would absolutely make me jealous, but I've never been in that situation

- No, this is the weirdest one. I have friends who own huge houses (multiple!) and sports cars. I'm happy for their success, I find it genuinely mental that you would be (are? surely you have more successful friends) jealous because your mate has a better car than you. Jesus.

And I'm not "stuck" in the friends and family bit, that's been the whole context of the thread.

Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious

#447

Post by swayvil »

Consider the following scenario.

You are ingesting a broad spectrum of experiences. Sights, sounds, smells, tastes... mysterious feelings... touching stuff with your skin...

Then suddenly you fixate on a bit of media drama. You focus. Concentrate. This broadband experience is reduced to a narrow trickle of symbols.

It's like breathing through a straw.

You feel like garbage.

Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious

#448

Post by irrational »

nuclearsugar wrote: post #361
irrational wrote: post #360

I’ve noticed the same thing about the news. When I don’t follow the news I am happier and less anxious. Yet, it doesn’t feel right to be ignorant of what is going on in the world. How does one balance their own happiness versus being informed? “Ignorance is bliss” is a saying for a reason I suppose.

IMO read the news about twice per week. But never watch the news on TV.

I haven't watched TV since the late 1980s, so that one is pretty easy.

Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious

#449

Post by krnlpnc »

My trick is to follow accounts about things that I enjoy and people who are positive.

I simply unfollow accounts if they post toxic or exhausting things. Even if I know them in person (including my sibling, sorry send a text or a postcard!)

Now my feed is full of positive things, close friends, my favorite hobbies and jokes that I enjoy.

Also, only using insta and tiktok is an immediate improvement. Facebook is a cesspool due to it constantly highlighting "friends" comments on random other accounts.

Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious

#450

Post by xtracto »

colpabar wrote: post #428
sharadov wrote: post #417

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it does not bother me. I am one of those people who feels happy when something good is happening in other people's lives. That other person who got that job put time into it and achieved it. Good for them. Someone lost a shit ton of weight and looks ripped. That's motivation for me to lift too and eat better. It comes down to you, are you using that as fuel to motivate you or are you seething inside and burning w…

> It comes down to you, are you using that as fuel to motivate you or are you seething inside and burning with envy? > I honestly believe that envy is the thief of joy and if you allow it to consume you it will destroy you. It's nice that you are able to do this, but most don't use social media this way. They see successful, beautiful people doing interesting things and they feel sad that they can't do the same. Can'…

This made me think: Back in the 90s when I was a teen there were several magazines here in Mexico (ERES, Tú) and the "socials" section in the local newspaper which dedicated to show you the amazing life of socialtes and other famous (or not so famous) people. Teenage girls and boys used to buy and "read" those magazines to get up to speed on the latest gossip, but also just to see what these people were doing.

Do you think that was bad for kids those days?

Post reply on HN