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Using Social Media Smarter

According to experts, 3.5 billion people use social media sites.

By Carlos FoxPublished 4 years ago 3 min read
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Social media is a big deal. According to experts, 3.5 billion people use social media sites. That's 45% of the population! We spend an average of three hours on social media every single day. In short, social media is everywhere in our lives and our culture.

That may not be a good thing. Experts allege that some types of social media use can be bad for your health. It may be possible to become "addicted" to social media. And social media can lead to oversharing and a loss of privacy, whether intentional or not on the part of the user. From your daily mood to your future career, there are a lot of reasons to be careful with social media. Here's how to be smarter about how, when, and why you log in.

Target Your Interests

Social media has a powerful draw: It's only human to want to share with and hear from others. But what is being exchanged? Depending on the social media platform, it could be a whole lot of nonsense. You could end up comparing your life to other people's lives (or, more accurately, to the ways they represent their lives online). You could waste time and develop unhealthy and (somewhat ironically) anti-social tendencies.

Or, you could use social media smarter. You could opt for groups within social media platforms or target platforms that are designed to bring people together based on shared interests, like Reddit and theTUNDRA. Social media is at its best when it's uniting people with shared interests and encouraging them to form communities. Using a platform like theTUNDRA to focus on your hobbies and passions can be very rewarding: You could gain tips and tricks, share accomplishments and encouragement, and more. That's a lot healthier than staring at other people's photos and reading their bragging posts or political diatribes. Enthusiast communities are a natural fit for a digital environment, and they represent a healthy option on the social media marketplace.

Protect Your Privacy

Social media is all about sharing. But that can be a problem, especially when you're careless about—or unaware of—what is being shared.

Make sure that you've locked down your social media accounts with the proper privacy settings. These settings can be confusing, so read carefully and get help from online guides when necessary.

Don't forget, though, that privacy settings can only control who sees your posts, not what those posts actually are. Be smart: Don't over-share, and be particularly wary of posts that might reveal embarrassing information, illegal activity, or gaps in your digital or home security.

Consider Your Future

Protecting your privacy is a safety issue, but it's also a career issue. What you post on social media reflects on you as a person, and employers and educators are more attuned than ever to social media. If you post a controversial political rant or a photo that shows you breaking the law, it could come back to haunt you. So how can you be smarter about these things? In this case, the answer is simple: Stop posting this kind of stuff.

That's easier to do if you're on a site like theTUNDRA, where you can discuss your passion for renewable energy or the tundra biome instead of ranting out movies or politicians that you hate. Sometimes, a social media site's discussion features and its member's interests can have an impact on your future.

Manage Your Use

Balance is key in all things, and social media is no exception. Using social media too often and for too long is rough on your mental health, experts say. It's not great for your physical health, either: Getting outside and moving around is key to your health, and that's hard to do when your eyes are constantly locked on a screen.

With that in mind, set and enforce limits for your social media use. By practicing moderation and using your social media time more wisely, you can get more out of social media and dodge its dangers.

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