fujitsu digital skills 7.3

Be Aware Social Media is a ‘Highlight Reel’

Engage With Empowering Content

Find A Positive Digital Community

Find A Healthy Balance

Digital Friendship

Getting Help

Not all online content is positive, and some can have a negative impact on your digital wellbeing. This type of content could include upsetting news stories, adult websites, discriminatory content or messages or content which promotes self-harm. Depending on what you have seen, it can sometimes be difficult to reach out for help in understanding what you have seen. Try to stay away from this harmful content and instead find an online community that is positive and empowers you.

Every time we interact with someone online, we are creating a community and affecting the way that our systems interact with us. If we start following one type of content, we will see more of that content, if we start following users who have a certain mindset, we will see more and more of that mindset. For best practice, find a positive digital community whose content you resonate with.

We often engage with technology and the internet for extended periods of time every day/week. This has been shown to impact our thoughts and leads us to worry about how long we have spent online and what we have seen. This has also been linked to feeling lonely. Set alerts on your phone that remind you how much time you have spent on social media so you know when to take a break.

Having negative experiences online can seem normal, but it is important for your digital wellness to seek support. For example, seek support if you are ever unsure about your safety online, if you have seen anything that you need help in processing, or if you have been targeted by any form of cyberbullying.

A lot of our relationships and friendships take place digitally, writing messages and emails or sending images. Because we often do not see someone’s facial expression or hear the tone of their voice, messages, updates and posts can often be misunderstood or misconstrued. This makes any kind of disagreement or argument even more complicated. Be mindful of this, and if you are unsure about a message your friend has sent online, ask them about it in person and get the full context.

This could be pressure to look a certain way, receive a number of likes or follows or even pressure to watch and engage with content we may not be comfortable with. For example, on social media, we may encounter highly edited images which show us an aspirational look or lifestyle, and which are often referred to as ‘goals’. The pressure to also achieve these ‘goals’ can leave us feeling negatively about ourselves and our own achievements.Remember that what you see on social media is often a ‘highlight reel’, you only see the things people want you to see.