(BPT) - When it comes to your social media feed, do you ever feel like you're stuck in a bad place? Do you even dread opening up your feed sometimes because of all the negativity you might find there? Whatever happened to those funny memes, animal videos, positive interactions with friends and family, even informational DIYs and hacks?
Sometimes, it can feel like social media algorithms are not generating the mix of content needed to live a well-balanced life.
Algorithms can be a mystery to people who aren't data analysts, but they play a significant role in what we see on social media. While designed to make our feeds more interesting and relevant, recent research has shown that these algorithms can send us down niche rabbit holes and promote negative conversations that can directly impact mental health.
Sure, some negative content on your feeds is expected, especially because world events are an important element of a diverse social media diet. But algorithms could be pushing down the feel-good content to encourage more doomscrolling. It happens more than you think.
But can you do anything about it? It turns out, you can.
LG Electronics recently commissioned a new global survey, in keeping with their mission to spread the ethos of Life's Good, to understand how social media platforms affect users' well-being. It found what many of us experience every day - social media is a source of anxiety and stress, but also a place where we turn to be entertained. More than half of survey respondents reported their social media feeds consist of an equal or greater amount of negative content vs. positive content, with nearly a quarter saying that negative content on their social media feeds has increased their anxiety and made them unhappy.
Sound familiar? Here's what can you do to bring that happy feeling back to your social media feed.
- Proactively search for the content you like. From funny cat videos to food hacks to motivational speeches, the content is out there if you look for it.
- Encourage your favorite creators to keep making content that you enjoy.
- Engage with posts you like and disengage with content you don't. This sounds obvious, but people don't often think about it.
- When engaging with content you enjoy, keep in mind, there are real humans with emotions behind the screens. Like or comment something positive on uplifting content and the algorithm will continue to feed you more of the same.
A great example of this is LG's new 'Optimism Your Feed' campaign, which gives social media users a head start on shaping the content they want to consume by creating a positive playlist of TikTok and YouTube content. The playlist features feel-good content from popular creators and aims to help those who want to retrain their algorithm to bring more optimism to their feed by inviting them to proactively engage with positive content.
Here's how it works:
- Search for @lg_lifesgood on TikTok, or go to LG's channel on YouTube.
- Find Optimism Your Feed and start scrolling!
- Engage with content you like by tapping, liking, commenting or sharing.
This isn't just about getting people to interact with fun videos. It's about using that positive content to give people the power to change the algorithms on their feeds. By interacting with this content, it will, in turn, draw in even more positive content from other sources.
Social media can be both good for us and bad for us at the same time, so it's important to remember there are ways we can try to proactively take more control of our social media experience. By being more conscious about what we choose to engage with, we can bring stronger balance, inspiration and happiness to our lives.
If we focus on optimism, we will be better equipped to deal with life's challenges and build a happier life.
And who doesn't need that, right?
