OK. My apologies in advance, but there's going to be a (slight) rant and then a solution I found through my mental help therapy group.

Am I the only one sick and tired of the relentless negativity found on social media these days? If it isn't Trump or Clinton, it's that transsexual people are wicked perverts, or that someone is going through a horrible break up and we need to have a play-by-play about it, or that someone can go from 0 to 60 in no time flat.

SICK AND TIRED OF IT. ARGHHH! 

Wouldn't it be nice one day to wake up to the olden days of social media when we actually interacted with people rather than argued? When we saw updates on milestones in our friends' lives? Now it's constant bickering over one topic or another.

But a solution I have found!

A group member in my mental health group told me to delete the Facebook app (in particular) from my phone so that I had to put extra effort into wanting to be on Facebook. Sure as shootin' -- it worked!

This really has reduced my stress levels and made me turn to more positive places for support, such as Susan's Place 

Seems the best solution to social media is to stay well away from it altogether.

Quote from: Ms Grace on May 07, 2016, 04:19:47 AM
Seems the best solution to social media is to stay well away from it altogether.

Ironic that this piece of sage advice was posted to a social media site. 

My point is that not all social media is the same.

In my case I changed my expectations of social media. I'm looking at it as a way to get information and advice, not to interact with people (though I have gotten to know people that way). Given that, there are lots of things I've learned through facebook that I would not have know any other way.

Quote from: Loved_PrincessMPLS on May 07, 2016, 03:42:02 AM
it's that transsexual people are wicked perverts

Unfortunately I hear this on the TV too. Usually I can put of with being the butt of the joke on TV but I hate malicious attacks. They were playing so many Ted Cruz ads on TV I had to stop watching it.

Quote from: Loved_PrincessMPLS on May 07, 2016, 03:42:02 AM
This really has reduced my stress levels and made me turn to more positive places for support, such as Susan's Place 

Glad to you found something that works for you.

Maybe i'm just anti-social, but i really see no apeal in facebook(and similar sites) at all.  If i want to talk to a friend/family member, i have thier phone number and would rather not make mark zuckerberg any richer.

Quote from: Amanda_Combs on May 07, 2016, 08:19:15 AM
Maybe i'm just anti-social, but i really see no apeal in facebook(and similar sites) at all.  If i want to talk to a friend/family member, i have thier phone number and would rather not make mark zuckerberg any richer.

I never cared much for facebook either.

Just like the tele, the internet has an On/Off switch and also means to change the channel. So just why are you watching that really bad movie with a gizillion commercials for the past hour and a half? Or listening the hate mongers on the radio as you drive to work going on how a man with a penis needs to be shot if 'It" is found in ladies because we know the pedophile rapist is just waiting there for a suitable target? Sure once the dangly bits are cut off, it's kinda OK, as long as "It" looks hot. 

Seems like only the classical music or jazz stations just do music

You are absolutely right!

I actually deleted my public Facebook at the beginning of the year and created one strictly to keep in contact with family which live all around the states. I couldn't take any more verbal diarrhea. Just the constant negativity and disgusting human soap boxing was too much. The result is I have a much better relationship with my real life friends, as I have weeded out the people who find real life interaction with me too much effort, and my true friends and I have a much better connection. Now we have more to talk about because I don't already know every detail of their life and they have to put in effort to communicate about it with me. We can have whole conversations without looking at our phones for entertainment.

Quote from: JoanneB on May 07, 2016, 09:50:58 AMSeems like only the classical music or jazz stations just do music

I would agree, and actually, these stations are exactly the type of stations I love listening to at night to fall asleep or when I need a little peace and "me time." It's extremely soothing and really does give the mind a break from the constant barrage of DJs and witless other banter

Quote from: BioS on May 07, 2016, 02:51:54 PM
Just the constant negativity and disgusting human soap boxing was too much. The result is I have a much better relationship with my real life friends, as I have weeded out the people who find real life interaction with me too much effort, and my true friends and I have a much better connection. Now we have more to talk about because I don't already know every detail of their life and they have to put in effort to communicate about it with me. We can have whole conversations without looking at our phones for entertainment.

I'll be honest and say I never thought of it this way. I almost wonder if building a new Facebook profile for the "new me" as Bailey, which is the name I've selected for myself, wouldn't be a bad idea because it would only include those with whom I've shared my secret and it would weed out the constant negativity and BS we see in our daily news feeds.

Any thoughts from anyone on this approach?

Quote from: Ms Grace on May 07, 2016, 04:19:47 AMSeems the best solution to social media is to stay well away from it altogether.

I have to admit, as true as it is, I got a good chuckle

Well Facebook and myself never got along. Well I never signed up, because I never saw the hype about it. Call me old fashioned, but if a family member needs to get ahold of me, I am on the other side of a cell phone. Either text or call.
Facebook, as well as other social media outlets are just  proverbial fighting grounds in which the hot topic for the day is just a means to have people fighting and bickering over their own morals. Well there is the maybe 5% of people on those in which just goes for getting and staying in contact with others without the fighting.

Kate <3

The tech that makes social media possible is great and had potential for good, but being plugged into millions of peoples' thoughts and feelings every day isn't something the human brain was designed to deal with.

I apologize for my late reply, but it's funny because one of the things we learned in my mental health therapy group was to become "unplugged," even if it's only for an hour a day or more if you can spare it.

Society has become so technology-dependent that just throwing your phone or computer (well, maybe not literally) into the middle of the room and not touching it for an hour or two will allow you to disconnect from the negativity and focus on what's important to you.

Has anyone anyone ever tried this? If so, what were your results?

@Princess: I noticed that not a lot of people have actual hobbies these days, and I think that's sort of related.

I think having a hobby that requires you to work with your hands in any way is extremely important and adds to the quality of life. Setting your phone down for an hour or two and learning a new skill could open so many doors for people.

I remember watching a particular horrific TV news presentation, 9/11 or another horrible thing, and a watcher called saying that they found the pictures and stories triggering.

The commentator said something very wise.

If what you are watching or reading upsets you, turn the TV off.

It is the same for social media/FB etc. If you don't want to read the bile from bigots you have a choice.

Don't read it.

You have control over what you watch and read.

It is called free will and it is important to exercise it.