DEAR HARRIETTE: Lately, I've been getting incredibly tired of social media. I see the same posts over and over again and the same people over and over again. I would like to remove myself from my social platform, but I'm also afraid that I'll be missing out. I've been feeling unhappy with the posts of social unrest and people's political views, and it's wearing me out. My question is, how do I maintain my relationships with people on social media while protecting my mental state at the same time? -- Social Distancing
DEAR SOCIAL DISTANCING: Balance is key in life, especially when we’re talking about social media consumption. You are having classic symptoms of what many are experiencing -- social media fatigue. Guess what? It’s perfectly OK, even healthy, to step away from your social media entirely for a while. You can choose for how long. Recognizing that you are in control of your life is a powerful discovery, and it includes the awareness that if you miss out on some posts or even some activities as people slowly begin to start seeing each other again, so be it. It’s not the end of the world. Really!
To figure out the way forward on engaging people on social media, evaluate your network and who really matters to you. Choose to interact with them. Decide whether you want to talk to them beyond social media channels. Is anyone truly your friend? Figure out who matters and why, and from there, determine how closely you want to interact and with what frequency. Less can be more.