Twitter is a bit of a stressful place at the moment, what with Brexit, Trump and other nonsense filling our feeds on a daily basis. It can seem like there’s nothing but politics and bad news as we scroll through our feeds.

To help, I’ve picked five of my favourite Twitter accounts to follow that will feel like a salve and help balance out the nonsense we encounter daily. My selection is often humorous, sometimes wholesome and always a welcome sight when they appear in my feed:

The Museum of English Rural Life (@TheMERL)

There’s a reason why this small farming museum in Reading has over 130,000 followers. The account mixes interesting images from their archives with moments of pure silliness. They have a particular obsession with ‘absolute units’ (a.k.a pictures of ginormous farm animals) and have been known to bait other museums into best duck competitions. You absolutely won’t regret following them.

Orkney Library (@OrkneyLibrary)

Their obsession with balls aside (the stone balls that live outside the library, what else did you think I was talking about?), Orkney Library shares regular updates from the goings on at the library. Sometimes the tweets are about Booky McBookface, the mobile library, other times they get funny with book titles. What could have been a characterless account from a library on a remote island has become a joyful and creative account with real personality that makes you want to travel hundreds of miles north for a visit.

Grant Snider (@GrantDraws)
Artist, illustrator and comic creator, Grant Snider posts his work regularly on Twitter. The comics cover everything from seasons and books to creativity, boredom and meditation.  With subtle humour and simple but effective accompanying prose, the beautifully created comics are like little moments of calm amidst the chaos. Absolutely worth a follow.

Atlas Obscura (@AtlasObscura)

Atlas Obscura exists to open our eyes to the fascinating, weird and historic places around the world. You’ll be amazed by what interesting landmarks and strange objects are just up the road from you (or on the other side of the world). Whilst their website has hundreds of intriguing places to discover on every continent, their Twitter account picks some of the best places daily for you to learn more about. Instead of looking inwards at Brexit, follow this account to look outwards and expand your horizons with amazing places you never knew about.