LIFE

 

De-friend Facebook

The Glitch Sitch: Facebook is a great way to stay connected with your friends and their lives, but it’s an easy way to be too in tune with them. With people updating their locations to cool vacation spots, uploading pics of their cuties and posting super cool statuses about how great their lives are, you may start to feel like your life isn’t quite as amazing.

Fix Your FOMO: Getting a little down about how amazing people’s look is normal and soon enough you easily forget that that’s just the thing: they look amazing. When people post a super cool profile pic, it’s because they picked the coolest picture they found of themselves—you don’t get to see all of their failed selfies they took ahead of time!

When they post a cool status, nine times out of 10, it’s about something positive or funny that happened in their life, and not the in-between stuff. Instead of obsessing over how ho-hum your life seems in comparison, remember that A+ you got on a recent test or that awesome weekend trip you went on with your fam. Then, put down your phone, and live your own life to the fullest. 

Instagram

The Glitch Sitch: Instagram shows off all the best snaps from around the globe. Sharing pics with your besties and taking a peek inside celebs’ lives—social media doesn’t get much better than that! Plus, who can forget the addictive filters and editing options? But too much of a good thing can never end well. Are you really living in the moment and enjoying yourself, or are you too busy obsessing over if people are seeing you living in the moment and enjoying yourself?

Fix Your FOMO: Next time you’re at a totally cool concert or about to dig in to some drool-worthy grub, quit obsession whether you should use the Hudson or Kelvin filter. Take a couple pics, preserve the memory, then put stash your cell in your clutch. You’ll enjoy the concert more if you’re watching it with your own eyes and not through a screen.

Tweet Talker

The Glitch Sitch: Twitter is super cool because it is lightening fast: with the click of a button, you can find out what’s happening almost anywhere in the world or what your fave celeb is up to. What you might not realize though is how much a mere 140 characters can affect you. Just like Instagram, Twitter can easily become a habit of getting caught up in telling everyone what you’re doing instead of actually enjoying what you’re doing.

Fix Your FOMO: Next time you go to check your faves and retweets, ask yourself: Am I telling jokes for people to laugh, or so that people think I’m funny? Would I have the courage to say this indirect to someone’s face? Do I really need to tweet what I’m doing every five minutes? Is getting in Twitter wars with someone in a different fandom really worth my time? Ditch the drama. Chances are, zero characters often are better than 140 characters.

Tumblr Troubles

The Glitch Sitch: Tumblr is so cool because you can connect with people all around the world who share your similar interests. You might even learn about a new brand or show (read: I started watching Supernatural after I kept seeing GIFs on my dash and my life hasn’t been the same since). But Tumblr’s 24-hour, constantly changing activity can be a bit of a problem too. Pretty soon you’re refreshing your page so much that you keep putting off homework or sacrificing sleep.

Fix Your FOMO: Next time you look at the clock and realize that two hours have suddenly past, instead of shrugging it off, stop right there and take a step back from the computer. Better yet, walk outside. Getting fresh air during the day and catching enough zzz’s at night is actually proven to improve your mood, health, skin and so much more. To make sure you really stick to your time limit, set an alarm on your phone or try one of these procrastination prevention apps. Easy, right?

Remember...

You are in charge of your own happiness! No one else is telling you to feel a certain way, so it’s up to you to decide how much attention you pay to social media and how much you get out of it. Be in control of your own life and if you see something that gives you major FOMO or makes you upset, log-out or put down the phone so you can concentrate on the good things in your life and not the good things in somebody else’s.

by Kate Radin | 2/1/2016