11 Ways Empathetic People Can Avoid Getting Upset While Scrolling Social Media Right Now
Scrolling without limits can be incredibly harmful.
Dragana Gordic | Shutterstock Especially in the current state of the world, with all kinds of news at our fingertips and a world of commentary on social media, it's not surprising that many people are struggling with the consequences of media overload. It's not just excessive use of social media that causes information, social, and emotional overload, like a Heliyon study argues, but also the quantity of intense and negative news we're consuming on these platforms.
If you're a sensitive person, driven both by guilt and intention to stay informed, the mental and emotional consequences of this kind of consumption can take a strong toll on your well-being. However, there are many ways empathetic people can avoid getting upset while scrolling social media right now, without eradicating information or screen time entirely.
Here are 11 ways empathetic people can avoid getting upset while scrolling social media right now
1. Setting boundaries around screen time
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With nearly three-quarters of Americans feeling consistently overwhelmed by worldly crises, largely because news consumption is impossible to avoid online and on social media, boundaries are necessary. In many cases, the average person has become desensitized to this kind of content, despite nurturing many harmful and insidious mental health concerns because of it, so they don't even know where to start.
Instead of trying to weed out certain buzzwords and avoid publications entirely, setting boundaries around screen time in general can protect empathetic people from falling into a cycle of toxic consumption. Even if that means opting for a book before bed instead of doomscrolling or making an intentional effort to limit screen time on apps like TikTok, these small changes can make room for healthier coping mechanisms, learning habits, and self-care.
2. Setting a 'scroll intention'
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Especially for sensitive individuals, social media can be emotionally exhausting without the right intentions and boundaries, according to a study from Telematics and Informatics. However, setting a "scroll intention" — like "What am I scrolling for today?" or "What am I looking for while scrolling?" — can protect empathetic people from internalizing everything that comes across their feed.
This kind of intention could also steer you away from scrolling entirely. If this moment of mindfulness tells you that you're scrolling to distract yourself or to cope with discomfort, it could be a simple reminder to set down your phone altogether.
3. Curating their feed
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Even if it takes a bit of effort and time to curate your feed to be empowering, rather than draining, sometimes it can be worth the investment. When you choose to entertain yourself with social media, you're less likely to run into news stories or draining narratives without notice.
So, start being intentional with the kinds of content and creators that you're interacting with — the more you feed into the good, the more it continues to show up. When you are interested in reading deeper into the news and investing time into education with publications or creators that you trust, you can make that decision.
However, this kind of curated feed protects empaths from being pushed into the kind of "fight or flight" mode that unprompted and intense news typically sparks online.
4. Bookmarking important posts
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Negative emotions aren't something that you can always contain or control, which is why they tend to be relatively disruptive for empathetic people, but it is possible to change the way you interact and acknowledge them.
Like experts from Harvard Health suggest, crafting emotional regulation practices, like identifying your emotions or regulating your body's nervous system, can ensure you're better equipped to handle the stress, anxiety, and negativity of things like intense news online. That's why bookmarking news posts and information online that you believe to be important can be so effective.
When you're having a bad day or feeling dysregulated, bookmark posts that you find important to acknowledge, but are currently sparking intense emotions. When you feel regulated again, go back to those posts and learn, feel, and acknowledge them.
5. Reminding themselves that virality is rooted in outrage
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Oftentimes, the stories, posts, and sentiments that go most viral online — the ones that come across your feed more often — are often rooted in outrage and dramatization. When people share the worst of the worst, even if it's misleading or completely false, it's more likely to garner attention and engagement.
Simply reminding yourself of this while scrolling can help protect empaths from getting emotionally invested and pulled in. Even if it's a piece of news or a dramatic headline, diving deeper, regulating yourself, and seeking news from people you trust can ensure you're not spiraling every time you open your phone.
6. Putting their feet on the ground
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Putting their feet on the ground is one of the ways empathetic people can avoid getting upset while scrolling social media right now — both metaphorically and literally. Of course, getting outside, walking and moving your body, and being in nature can help to mend the mental health consequences of being chronically online.
However, simply putting your feet on the ground while scrolling — rather than sitting in a chair or lying in bed — can help sensitive people to feel more regulated, comfortable, and grounded.
7. Opting out
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Especially when news stories, headlines, and negative social media buzz relate to us personally, it can drastically sabotage our mood, well-being, and mental health. We feel a deeper sense of guilt for not staying informed or changing things when it's our communities' needs, but sometimes, to take care of others, we first have to take care of ourselves.
That's why opting out, at least for a little bit of time, is one of the ways empathetic people can avoid getting upset while scrolling social media right now. Take a phone break, delete the social media app, and focus on talking about hot topics with trusted friends, rather than strangers on the internet.
There's a difference between "selective avoiders" of the news online — doing so for their own mental health, safety, and sanity — and those that consistently stay ignorant and uninvolved by choice.
8. Talking with friends and family
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Considering that most of the viral content on social media and news circulating online is driven by negativity, according to a study from Nature Portfolio, sometimes turning to trusted family and friends is the best protective measure. Instead of trying to decode news from unreliable sources online or feed into discourse on your online platform, have a conversation with people you trust in real life.
It's these social connections and relationships that truly support our well-being, happiness, and mental health, so why not spend time conversing with them, instead of arguing or interacting with strangers on the internet who don't know or care to support you?
9. Not gaslighting their own sensitivity
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Especially in the rigid, negative, and overly decisive world of social media, it's not uncommon for empaths and sensitive people to gaslight themselves out of feeling things deeply. They feel guilty for caring for other people or letting things like news headlines derail their whole day, especially while perceiving everyone else to carry these things with ease.
However, reminding themselves not to gaslight their emotions, and to instead acknowledge and feel them as they come up, is one of the ways empathetic people can avoid getting upset while scrolling social media right now.
They're not pushing themselves into emotional suppression or setting themselves up for emotional burnout, because they're making space for complexities and discomfort as they arise.
10. Expressing concern in private
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While social media and infographics online can sometimes be a route to more thoughtful activism and change, sometimes "performative concern" is exactly that — performative. People who want attention or to promote a certain kind of narrative share every thought, feeling, and "fact" they see online largely for the sake of curating a narrative.
However, especially for empathetic people, this can pressure them to constantly be sharing their emotions online, even when they haven't acknowledged or addressed them on their own. That's why taking time to express and unpack concern for news stories and issues online is key for empathetic people. They regulate themselves, rather than relying on guilt that keeps them stuck in a cycle of media overload and pressure.
11. Creating a 'light list'
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Rather than consuming social media content and scrolling without direction, empathetic people have the option to curate specific playlists, creator lists, and bookmarked content that they know empowers them. Whether it's a specific podcast or a creator they love, when they're feeling dysregulated or just need a bit of entertainment, they can turn to these people and things for support.
This also takes the guesswork and anxiety out of mindless scrolling. They're not worried about what they're going to hear or see, and instead can rely on the comfort of creators and content they love without pressure to consume everything else.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a staff writer with a bachelor's degree in social relations & policy and gender studies who focuses on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human interest stories.
