I can't remember the exact date I was browsing my Twitter feed and saw the horrible video of George Floyd's murder circulating, but I do remember that the amount of shares and views on the video exceeded 100,000. Shortly before George Floyd's death, there was the video of Ahmaud Arbery circulating social media, as well as posts regarding Breonna Taylor's murder.
At this point, I don't think it's an over-exaggeration to say that the world has been in a consistent state of turmoil, and social media has been here to remind us everyday.
I am pretty active on all three of my social media accounts and regardless of which one I am using, I can't catch a break from consistently seeing posts and statuses regarding police brutality, the antics from Agent Orange (Trump), and discussions regarding the unlawful killing of Black people and other people of color. Don't be confused now, I'm not complaining about social media at all. I think it is amazing that the world is using social media to be involved with political and social movements, and to educate and create spaces for people to share opinions and knowledge on the events that are happening in the world as well as a variety of important topics. However, I know that consistently seeing these discussions, statuses, and videos on social media can be triggering and traumatizing for many, myself included. I have told myself a million times to "just stay off of social media" and have even contemplated deleting the apps...but it is just not that simple.
I know self-care is extremely beneficial to my well-being and I like to practice it in all areas of my life. However, social media is my news outlet, and as a writer, I use it to stay informed and updated on world events. So, completely erasing social media, regardless of how much it may be exhausting at this time, is just not an option for me. Can you see why I have struggled with this dilemma for weeks?
I admit it has been difficult trying to figure out whether I want to even stay informed on the current matters or do I want to just take a break and breathe.
Well, I have a testimony for you: in the midst of my internal battle, Jesus came to me and said, "There is a way that you can do both." Look at God...where there is a will, there is a way! So, to my brand ambassadors, YouTubers, journalists, influencers, entrepreneurs, and artists that utilize social media as a source of income, and to the everyday people that use social media for entertainment (I know this has probably spiked due to the stay-at-home orders), xoNecole is here to share some tips with you so that you can practice self-care while still using social media.
Here's four ways to practice social media self-care to bring some light into your world during these dark times:
Turn Off All Notifications
On every single social media outlet, turn off your notifications! Sometimes people tag you in things or you may just be alerted from the app, either way it doesn't help to be notified of something that will re-traumatize or trigger you. Take care of yourself and turn those notifications off and keep them off until you are ready to receive them again.
Muting Is Your Friend
If you're unfamiliar with the muting feature, now is the time to become acquainted. Muting isn't unfollowing or blocking anyone, it is simply hiding their posts. In other words, when you mute someone, you will no longer be able to see anything they post or share. This feature is available on Twitter and Facebook. So whenever you see someone post something that disturbs your spirit, simply go ahead and press that mute button, and don't feel bad for doing this to as many people as you need to for as long as you need to. You can also mute accounts that you know post material that may trigger or disturb you. Muting your followers and accounts helps you monitor what you consume while on social media; be wary of the information you take in on a daily basis.
Set A Schedule
There's a couple of ways to do this, so find what works best for you. One way is creating a schedule for how many hours you're going to spend on your social media accounts a day, i.e. spending 8 hours a day on social media, and using a time-log to keep track of your hours so you don't go over them. The other way to do this is creating time increments for utilizing social media.
For example, you can spend one hour on social media and 4 hours off of social media, and you do this every 4 hours. So basically, every 4 hours you are off of social media, you need to be doing something else to occupy your time. But once those four hours are up, you get an hour (or as long as you choose) to browse social media. You can be creative with how you set and maintain your schedule, but just remember that the purpose is to give yourself time away from social media every day so that you can recharge and not consume so much material that may exhaust you.
In addition, continue utilizing any self-care regimens used off of social media to aid in creating a feeling of replenishment while navigating social media.
Sometimes I have to remind myself to not feel bad for doing whatever it is I need to do to find my balance between Instagram and sanity; staying current on world news is important, but not at the expense of staying in good mental and emotional health.
I have discovered that as long as I am consistent with using my self-care skills daily, I can make it through this difficult time on social media without any mental or emotional bruises. That is the goal.
Want to talk more about beauty, wellness & self-care with like-minded women? Join the xoTribe members community today to start your glow-up journey.
Featured image by Shutterstock
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xoNecole sat down with Luke James to talk about his latest series and all the complexity surrounding it—from the challenges taking on this out-of-the-box role to the show's depiction of the perplexing history of the relationship between Black Americans and police. When describing the opportunity to bring Edmund's character to life, Luke was overjoyed to show the audience yet another level of his masterful acting talents.
"It was like bathing in the sun," he said. "I was like, thank you! Another opportunity for me to be great—for me to expand my territory. I'm just elated to be a part of it and to see myself in a different light, something I didn't think I could do." He continued, "There are parts of you that says, 'Go for it because this is what you do.' But then also that's why it's a challenge because you're like, 'um, I don't know if I'm as free as I need to be to be able to do this.' Little Marvin just created such a safe space for me to be able to do this, and I'm grateful for everything I've been able to do to lead to this."
Courtesy
Them: The Scare, like the first season, shines a light on the plight of Black Americans in the United States. This time, the story is taking place in the 1990s, at the height of the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles. While the series presents many underlying themes, one that stands out is Black people and the complicated relationship with the police. "For the audience, I think it sets the tone for the era that we're in and the amount of chaos that's in the air in Los Angeles and around the country from this heinous incident. And I say it just sets the tone of the anxiety and anxiousness that everybody is feeling in their own households."
James has been a longtime advocate against police brutality himself. He has even featured Elijah McClain, the 23-year-old Colorado man who died after being forcibly detained by officers, as his Instagram avatar for the past five years. So, as you can imagine, this script was close to his heart. "Elijah was a soft-loving oddball. Different than anyone but loving and a musical genius. He was just open and wanted to be loved and seen."
Getty Images
Luke continued, "His life was taken from him. I resonate with his spirit and his words...through all the struggle and the pain he still found it in him to say, 'I love you and I forgive you.' And that's who we are as people—to our own detriment sometimes. He's someone I don't want people to forget. I have yet to remove his face from my world because I have yet to let go of his voice, let go of that being [because] there's so many people we have lost in our history that so often get forgotten."
He concluded, "I think that's the importance of such artwork that moves us to think and talk about it. Yes, it's entertaining. We get to come together and be spooked together. But then we come together and we think, 'Damn, Edmund needed someone to talk to. Edmund needed help... a lot [of] things could have been different. Edmund could have been saved.'
Check out the full interview below.
Luke James Talks Ditching Sex Symbol Status For "Them: The Scare", Elijah McClain, & Morewww.youtube.com
Featured image by Getty Images
