We are all vulnerable to online expectations, it’s time we put our happiness first and learnt when to say no
Do you find yourself conforming and buckling under the pressure you are put under both online and off? You might want to consider the power of the word no and the difference that it could make. Especially for your digital life.
In order to have a healthy relationship with digital it is important to set boundaries, in the same way that you do with your professional and personal life. It is likely that you learnt not to bring up your personal problems in meetings. Similarly you have to refrain from checking your work emails when you are on a romantic weekend with your other half.
Friend requests are simply requests
When Facebook first came out people were all about having the highest number of followers and accepting anyone and everyone. It is all too easy to forget online that there is someone else pressing the buttons on the other side of a friend request. They just become another number in your army of followers.
You wouldn’t let a stranger into your house to wonder around, so why would you accept a friend request from anyone other than your friend. Facebook at its core is a way to keep in contact with friends and family.
You should not feel obliged to add someone you met drunk in a club bathroom or on that afternoon training course. These people will fill your feed with content that you may not be interested in, and they will be able to see all you post.
Be friends and follow people that make you happy and that you want to have in your digital life.
Next time that stranger, that girl you really hated at school, or that friend of a friend add you or request to follow you, remember.
Say yes to saying no.
Say no to group chats
No one has ever been happy 100% of the time in a group chat. More often than not they are created to serve a purpose. Sometimes this purpose is to keep in contact with your friends, plan a trip, or for a group project. Regardless of the purpose they eventually descend into chaos, with nicknames so confusing that no one knows who anyone is anymore, and notifications that drive you insane to the point you mute the chat- defeating the point of it entirely.
If being in a group chat has got to the point where it is causing you more stress than it is worth, once it has served its purpose you should leave. You will still be able to contact your friends, you just won’t have a conversation where 20 people are talking at the same time anymore.
Say yes to saying no.
Stop comparing selfies
It is to easy to admire the filters that people put on their content and forget that the content itself is filtered. A majority of people online try and portray the best aspects of themselves and their lives. However, despite this being common knowledge we constantly compare ourselves to others. We compete for more likes and more followers, with complete strangers…
Try and post one more natural selfie for every heavily edited selfie that you post. Make the most of being in the moment and stop getting caught up with likes and followers.
Say yes to saying no.
