5 Social media New Years Resolutions for you in 2021

Whether it’s taking up a new skill, or quitting an unhealthy habit, New Years Resolutions are about self-improvement. If you’re not sure what you might commit to in 2021, how about putting some thought into how you can improve your social media accounts?

Not sure where to start? I’ve put together a list of 5 social media resolutions for inspiration. Not only will these suggestions improve your feeds and create a more positive place to be, but they may also inspire new ideas, create conversation and build new connections.

I’m hoping the suggestions below will be a lot easier to stick to than some resolutions!  Let me know in the comments if you decide to take up any of them:

Follow new people.

Being in a bubble of people who look like you and have opinions you agree with is a common issue on social media. It leaves people with the impression that everyone thinks the same and it’s the reason why people are surprised when election results are vastly different from what they had been expecting. Living in a social media bubble prevents you from hearing from diverse voices. In 2021, look for more diverse voices to listen to and follow some new voices to challenge your perceptions.

Make your feed a happier place to be

It’s time to mute some keywords, block a few people and follow some more positive accounts. If you’re going to spend as much time on your social channels as I think you do (and as much time as I do), it’s important to make it a pleasant place to be. You don’t need to follow those controversial commentators to keep up with their latest nonsense; you don’t even need to follow your second cousin once removed who shares anti-vaccine memes. You shouldn’t feel obligated to follow anyone on social media if you’re not interested in what they have to say. Your mental health will thank you in the long run.

Reply more

I know I’m guilty of either scrolling past a message or just clicking the like button because it’s a whole lot easier and quicker than coming up with an interesting response. But that bypasses the whole point of social media. It’s supposed to be a conversation. A lot of people, especially in 2020, have used social media as their primary contact with others as a way of feeling less isolated. So, I’m going to challenge myself to reply more to people’s posts in 2021. How about you?

Stop and verify before you share

Too much misinformation is being shared and accepted as the truth because we’re not stopping to verify what we’re reading or seeing. By stopping to use the reverse image search on Google to see if that shocking image has been posted before, or copying and pasting that funny tweet into the search bar to see if the joke has been stolen from another account, we can make sure we’re not part of the misinformation problem.

Stop spreading the negativity.

Whilst I’m an advocate for social media and all it can do, I’m not oblivious to its darker side. It’s frustrating to see how often that dark side of social media is given a platform and allowed the opportunity to spread much further than it should. A big reason for that on Twitter is people sharing negative messages as quote tweets, adding a message of outrage or some kind of humorous clapback. In 2021, help to stop these kinds of tweets getting the airtime they don’t deserve by ignoring what you see. It’s amazing how much nicer social media can be if we don’t feed the trolls. 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *