Most avid X users are accustomed to waking up and checking the platform first thing. Some even lay in bed at night and merely scroll through their timelines for hours just to ensure they don’t miss out on what’s trending or what their peers are talking about. With so much noise on the digital platform, all the voices, gossip, and breaking news can sometimes become overwhelming and affect your mental health. Thus, the platform recently introduced a new concept referred to as a “X break.”
That’s right! Now, you can take a step back from the platform to keep your mental health in check while still being connected with all your relevant tweets and information.
In this post, we’ll talk about the negative aspects of one of the world’s most popular social media platforms and share how to take a Twitter break.
The Negative Aspects Of X
Although there’s limited research regarding the long-term mental health consequences of X, several studies have found a disturbing link between the platform and an increased risk for stress, anxiety, depression, and loneliness, among a few issues.
Let’s check out some of the main negative aspects of X:
1. Mental Overload
Twitter is a place where you can find content and information related to every possible topic from football highlights to mass shootings, cultural conversations, political conflicts, and an endless rabbit hole of memes. This sounds like a fun experience, and it is, up to an extent. The problem is that our brains aren’t designed to withstand such a constant onslaught of conflicting information concurrently.
Many people joke about how spending too much time on Twitter has given them brain damage. This might sound like an exaggeration but the harsh reality is that they’re not wrong. Too much information causes confusion, frustration, and stress, among other problems. Therefore, people who use Twitter regularly often experience mental fatigue which can lead to mistakes and difficulty making decisions.
2. Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)
Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) is a mental health issue that’s been around long before the emergence of Facebook, Instagram, and X. However, social media platforms exacerbate these feelings to a whole different level. When people think others are living better lives than them or having more fun, it can affect their self-esteem and trigger anxiety.
To make things worse, FOMO compels you to pick up your phone every few minutes and amplify those negative feelings. As a result, many users miss out on sleep, fail to complete tasks, and even damage their real-world relationships.
3. Isolation
A University of Pennsylvania study concluded that high usage of X and other social media platforms can increase feelings of loneliness. This is mainly because the “Twitterverse” is often oriented to performance and status. Thus, it exaggerates favorable qualities, success stories, and happy content.
As a result, many people seek emotional support from the internet instead of spending more time interacting with people face-to-face.
How to Take a X Break
You probably think this is another “Get off social media” speech. It is not. In a world that’s rapidly adopting digitalization, going off the grid is nearly impossible. However, there are strategies you can apply to take a break from X now and then.
So, If you’re ready to break the chains of X or at least reduce the chances of succumbing to some of its negative aspects, here’s how to take a X break using the platform itself.
1. Refine Your Feed With Preferred Topics
Instead of flooding your timeline with information related to every niche possible, refine your feed with topics you’re interested in. For instance, do you enjoy food, gaming, celebrity news, science, etc.? Head to the Explore tab and explore through X’s Topics selector.
Don’t be overwhelmed by the options. Start by picking a few topics you like and slowly expand from there while getting a personalized social experience every time you visit the platform.
2. Add Lists to Your Timeline
Another way to take a X break is by building your timeline with Lists. X Lists are essentially refined groups of accounts that create a personalized timeline of tweets. You can pin up to five lists, including your own, and swipe between them. This way, you don’t have to sail through the deep ocean of information and stick to the shallows with curated content.
3. Autoplay Settings
Whether you’re new to the platform or an avid user, it’s safe to say there’s no shortage of shared video content on X that plays automatically. So, give yourself a break by turning off your auto-play settings. This way, you’ll only see videos if you choose to tap on the play button.
4. Mute
Mute is one of the most popular X features. It allows users to mute accounts on the platform to avoid seeing tweets and other content until you unmute them. This saves you the time to look through topics or curate dedicated lists. Apart from accounts, you can also mute phrases, words, hashtags, or emojis.
5. Block
Block and Report are two of the most common features on social media platforms. They’re typically designed to restrict accounts you don’t want to follow or tune into your posts or content. This ultimately improves the overall X experience, especially if the reason for blocking an account is cyber-bullying, spamming, or stalking.
6. Protected Posts
Some people want to be active on X all the time, but not with everyone. The best way to do this is by protecting your posts. You can turn off functions, such as sharing or retweeting. Moreover, you can approve who follows your account and sees your posts.
Wrapping Up
So, there you have it – how to take a X break. X, along with other mainstream platforms, has become a crucial aspect of our everyday lives. Thus, it’s almost impossible to completely rid these platforms of our lives. However, X has taken the necessary steps to help improve the overall user experience by accepting the negative aspects of social media and offering effective solutions to curb them.
So, if you’re ready to give your emotions a break and take a X break, use any or all of the six ways mentioned above to find digital peace.
By Bobby J. Davidson
I am passionate about our companies and truly enjoy the work we do. To learn more about the Davidson Family of Companies, please visit www.bobbydavidson.com/about. Don’t forget to subscribe to my Newsletter located at the bottom of this page for updates and insights.