Daily writing prompts

How Do You Overcome the Froth of Social Media?

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Honestly, I want to know.

If you know how to filter out all the meaningless, useless chatter on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any other platform…please let me know. I know my friends, my contacts, my connections, are creating meaningful posts. I just can’t seem to find them amid the gossip, the whining, the complaining, the ranting.

I truly value friendship and in an attempt to maintain a connection with the people that have come into my life I connect with them on these platforms, but then I fail to follow through. I scroll through Facebook looking for an important message, something personal and relevant to the people I care about. But I give up after scrolling through the ads and the “what I had for dinner” posts, the check-ins that let everyone know exactly where you are every minute of every day.

I’ve connected with people from around the US and even different countries, including some friends I made a couple years ago in Spain, but I can’t find their posts among the insignificant, inconsequential information that seems to be so important to everyone.

I just don’t have time to read about every moment. I honestly, sincerely care about these people but I just can’t. Am I the only one?

So many are using these platforms to validate their anger; to justify their rants; to commiserate with others. And with each “like” of these negative messages we are rewarding our friends for complaining about their bad day, their bad luck, their misfortune. We don’t want to tell them publicly that their whining will only bring them more things to complain about. We don’t tell them how good they are becoming at moaning and groaning, instead of taking action. We don’t want to seem critical so we don’t suggest that they look for something positive. Instead we “like” their post or we give them the teary-eyed emoji to let them know we care, and we scroll down to the next tirade, perhaps someone complaining about the government this time.

I had taken a break from social media, almost entirely cut myself off, and yet I miss these connections and want to find a better way. I know others do it. It’s possible, perhaps I just need to learn how.

This post is in response to the daily writing prompt Froth

36 thoughts on “How Do You Overcome the Froth of Social Media?”

    2. I also do the same. Another thing is now you can turn on notifications for posts of people you follow so that any time they post, you’ll get a notification and won’t miss their posts. I too was missing a lot of meaningful posts, then realized I followed way too many people who post negative, vile, and meaningless things. I to this day think there are people who just don’t understand how to use social media. I feel there should be a social media etiquette course before people are allowed to create an account lol. Or maybe that’s just me.

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      2. Not at all Lol. I went through today and deleted a lot. I cannot handle negative/toxic people any longer. Changing your life and being happy is a personal choice as os allowing anger and bitterness to permeate it. I just can’t with the negativity.

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  2. Long story short, I found myself not on Facebook. At first I missed all that ” froth”. I felt like I’d lost all my “friends”. Its been 5 months now and I’ve been on maybe 3 times, and realize I don’t miss it. I’ve learned how to reconnect with my friends, face to face. The ones that really matter have my phone number or email. Like you, I was so tired of the constant whining. It actually feels really good to not see that. Social media has made it so easy for us to vent or bully and basically be anonymous. I’m still on Twitter and IG because I can’t totally give it up. LOL I sort of rambled there, didn’t I? Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that we all need a social media break to reconnect with actual people again.

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    1. Great point! Not being tied to Facebook has been really good. Unfortunately it appears to be the best way to stay connected with some people (especially from Canada and Spain)… Maybe I’ll limit my friends to just those I can’t see in person because of distance…

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  5. I would echo the sentiment of others. Be intentional… With who you connect with, with how often, when, and why you view social media… And remember you can “unfollow” people so you don’t hurt feelings but can declutter your feed.

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  6. I unfollowed so many people – my feed is practically all of my “liked” news pages and occasional posts from “non-offensive” friends. Makes checking FB easier, but it is a little boring.

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    1. I need to figure out that balance! I completely wrote it off for a while but I gave a couple of really good friends who travel extensively. They post about their adventures and I often miss it. Plus the people from other places…But like people have suyim going to have to clean up my “friend” list a bit. 😁

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  7. On Facebook, I have had a straightforward rule, I like only personal posts like my freinds pics or status updates, only. I don’t really go with the pages they like or share. This way I stay away from junk posts.

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  8. I never joined FB despite being told endlessly I should – so glad I’m not there. As you know I’ve struggled even to keep up with my blog (back to ‘normal’ next week!). I do use Twitter but mostly for ‘writer’ related hashtag prompts which gets me the ‘right’ kind of followers who I tend to follow too. Otherwise I text and email which by their nature eliminates the froth! You can tell I’m old and British! Eric.

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  9. That’s a problem I used to have and I had to perform a Facebook cleanse. At the moment, I let everyone know that they can pm me with important things, but I no longer have the time or energy to…I guess follow people who are posting about every little thing and who get upset that I don’t like/comment on what they do at every minute of the day. I’ve partitioned my social media accounts so people who are always taking pictures I follow on instagram only, people who I am close to and interact with on a regular basis (university /work) I follow on Facebook and LinkedIn, twitter is for blogging only and I read meaningful posts on here. I think too many people are self centered on Facebook and want gratification for every little thing, so it’s important to keep in mind who you really want to communicate with and who you can live without. Or if you don’t want to “unfriend” anyone, you can just directly search for and look at the pages of the people you specifically want to be updated on. This is a very difficult question, lol

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    1. That’s a good idea…To “friend” people on different platforms. I’ve noticed how people are so concerned if people”like” what they put out there. I get (kind of) when it’s my 16 year old niece…But grown ups should have better things to worry about!

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  10. Dee, you have really started a meaningful debate with your timely post. I am not on any social media except WordPress or whatsapp (if it can count). I have been using wordpress for over two years now and I am happy with the lively and meaningful exchange I can have with like-minded bloggers. For the better part of two years, I just had a handful of people visiting my blog. It is only since I started writing in response to the daily prompt that I have significantly more traffic. Still, I am more interested in the ‘views’ and ‘comments’ than the number of ‘likes’ I get.
    I think each one of us has to find what works and get rid of the rest.

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    1. “find what works and get rid of the rest”…That can apply to so much more than social media! I for one can say that I’m grateful I found your blog! One of my favorite parts about blogging is engaging with other people… Writing something that people don’t just scroll through and click “like” without even reading. And also getting to know people like you! ❤️😁

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