Serena Williams deleted her social media accounts after the US Open final controversy. Are you tempted to shut yours down? Keep this in mind for a more successful digital detox.
With breaches in privacy being the order of the day on social media, many people are now deleting their online presence. But getting your constant fix of infotainment is a hard habit to break. Make sure you’re prepared with these tips:
Buy a real clock
We are dependent on our phones for a lot of things – including waking up. Phones often the first thing we see when we open our eyes. Getting an alarm clock is a great way of eliminating your phone from one aspect of your life and it helps you limit your social media usage. Instead of being tempted to scroll through your updates the moment you wake up, you will perhaps take a moment to be by yourself and your own thoughts before being bombarded with information. Temptation time The need to check social media often stems from boredom. So, try to identify the times you find yourself logging on. Being aware of what lures you into the world wide web helps you pinpoint triggers and can help you steer clear of social media. So, if you find that you can’t help but scroll through Facebook or Instagram while you’re taking a coffee break, make sure you make a note to distract yourself with something else, which brings us to the next point. Change the mode
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Humans want to be distracted. But there are useful distractions and time-wasting ones. Social media often falls into the latter. Instead, bookmark links to articles you want to read (or better still, carry a new book around), listen to some music or even just go for a short walk. When you get off social media, you actually realise you have much more mental space and time to do things in the real world. So, sign up for a new class or sport to give yourself another way to keep your mind occupied. But be careful not to flaunt your new hobbies on social media. It’s back down the rabbit hole if you do.
Go offline While our jobs make it near impossible to stay away from our phones, try to ensure that your interactions do not take place on social media. Connecting with friends in the real world with a call is much more satisfying that sending a flurry of messages before one party disappears. Even if you cannot meet or talk in real life to make plans, try email as an alternative. It’s less distracting than logging on to social media to have a chat and it’s much more personal. Reward yourself For some sites, it takes a minimum of two weeks before your account can be deactivated and deleted (a trick social media uses because they know our willpower has been replaced by FOMO). So once you make it past the two-week mark, it’s time to celebrate. Buy yourself something nice, treat yourself to a good dinner (don’t Instagram it) or try to hone one of your talents.
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When Discrimination Rears Its Head: Serena Williams Tested For Drugs, Facebook's New Ad Policy
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Serena Williams recently complained on social media about the frequency with which she is selected for anti-doping tests. She tweeted: “…and it’s that time of the day to get ‘randomly’ drug tested and only test Serena. Out of all the players it’s been proven I’m the one getting tested the most. Discrimination? I think so. At least I’ll be keeping the sport clean #StayPositive.”
Here is where the world stood last week on its prejudices about people of different race, age, gender, belief or medical condition.
(Image: AFP)
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(Image: Reuters)
Facebook has signed an agreement with Washington State, US to modify its advertisement platform after an investigation found that the platform could be used to abet discrimination. The social media ..
