Love it or hate it, the majority of people today are connected in some way to social media. There are a lot of negatives associated with it, but if used right, there can be positives as well.

The downsides to social media are probably fairly obvious. People spend a lot of time (way too much usually) on these sites, and often for very little purpose. Their senses are bombarded by a constant slew of information from depressing news stories to endless status updates about how great every else’s life is going.

Aside from making our collective attention spans shorter than that of goldfish, all that social media also has a tendency to be a bit of a downer. However, most people don’t realize it’s a downer, because they’re also getting hits of dopamine every time they check to see if someone liked their own status update. It’s an addiction that many people don’t know exists, much less that they themselves could be falling victim to. And the trouble is, research has shown that spending too much time in that social media zone can make people depressed.

Bragging is a downer

Sometimes social media is essentially a way for people to “brag” about how great their life is going (well, except those certain people who like to post random status updates about how they’re “having the worst day ever,” because they just need the attention of having someone ask them what’s wrong. Yeah, we all know one of those people…) So when you’re feeling down, heading for social media can actually make you feel worse because you’re watching the “Greatest Hits” reel of someone else’s life. And to compound it, every third story in your news feed is about a devastating hurricane, a raging wildfire, or a mass shooting. A lot of depressing news interspersed among your friends talking about how great their own lives are going when you’re having a bad day. No wonder people feel worse after spending too much time on social media.

However, it doesn’t have to be all bad. There are ways to use social media positively as well. You can use it to inspire yourself and lift yourself up when you’re feeling bad, if you just filter out some of the downers.

Make a Positivity List

Most social media sites give you the option of making specific lists, where you can add just certain people or pages. That way when you go to the list, you see only those people or pages that you’ve added. Nobody can see the list except you, so you don’t have to feel bad about who or what you add. Just add pages or people that lift you up; keep out anything that doesn’t. If that means you end up with none of your friends or family on that inspiring list, don’t feel bad (this is about picking yourself up after all, not putting yourself down).

In fact, often times it’s better to not include people at all in your inspiration list, just add inspirational pages instead. When it comes to people, everyone has a bad day once in a while, and you don’t want to check into your list for uplifting some day, only to find a depressing story from a friend. You also don’t want to feel jealous of whatever major achievement they just had. It kind of defeats of the purpose of making a positivity list in the first place. And don’t worry, no one can see your secret list, so people will never be aware of the fact that they’re not in it.

Of course you’ll still interact with your family and friends normally on social media. You don’t have to ignore or unfriend any of them. You can still see all their status updates in your normal feed. They just won’t be in your secret inspiration list. So when you’re feeling down, skip the home feed of your social media and head straight to your positivity list for a quick pick-me-up.

Keep the News Out of Your List

Also keep news pages out of this particular list. You get enough news stories elsewhere on social media, and the television, and the newspaper, and the radio, etc. You don’t need to be bombarded by it in your inspiration list as well. The majority of news stories tend to lean toward the depressing side (it’s not an accident there are so many anti-depressant ads during the news), so keep this one list free of them. That way when you go to check into your positivity list, there won’t be anything in it to bring you down.

On my Facebook account, my inspiration list is filled with pages that are a healthy mix of inspirational quotes, nature photos, fantasy artwork (because I love dragons, unicorns, and fairies), and a dash of humor for good measure. The combination is better than any anti-depressant on the market. Whenever I’m feeling down or overwhelmed, I check that list for a minute and I’m quickly lifted back up. It’s an automatic boost; an instant shot of energy. A few of my favorites in my positivity feed are: Faerie Magazine, Hippie Peace Freaks, Just Breathe, Elizabeth Harper Sealed With Love, We Love to Laugh, and Live by the Sun Love by the Moon & Dance with the Stars.

So do you have a positivity feed on your social media? If so what pages do you like to be inspired by? Let me know in the comments below. And if you do have a positivity list, don’t forget to share a post or two on your own wall to maybe help lift up a friend or family member who is having bad day, but might not yet have a positivity list of their own.

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