We are all familiar with the down side of social media. At first it seems like a harmless, even positive way to connect with friends around the world that you wouldn’t otherwise get to catch up with often or at all. Then a little FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) creeps in—it seems that everyone is having more fun, more exotic vacations than you are. FOMO puts us in a mental state that makes us susceptible to online shopping to fill a perceived lack. Then the algorithms sneak up on you and you wonder why ads for $300 jeans and the latest face goop keep popping up. We are shown products based on posts we like and all too often click and buy somewhat mindlessly.
Part of being able to resist the algorithms is to recognize the game. We live in a country that encourages us to participate in the market to keep the economy growing. We are bombarded with messages from every corner that tell us we need more of just about everything. This encourages hoarding, whether overboard prepping for disasters if your social media feed is mostly dark and pessimistic, or glitter and glue if your feed is mostly geared to crafting. My algorithm leans toward wide-leg jeans and yoga mats. I have six or seven yoga mats but every time I see an ad for the latest, greatest mat I think, “Maybe one more…”
If your goal is to be organized, you’ve got to cut the clutter and the best way to do that is to not buy things you don’t need. Not only does this help solve the clutter problem, it also saves you time. Taking care of and tracking stuff takes a lot of time.
Cutting clutter at the shopping source also saves you money. Juggling your finances to cover needless expenses is stressful, takes time and prevents you from focusing attention where it can actually be productive, such as completing an important project.
One of the ways I stop myself from buying the latest cool sunglasses or beautiful dishes that come up in my Intagram feed is to save the post in a category where I can go back and look at it later for inspiration. Sometimes saving the picture is as good as having the item—I’m not kidding! After I save a post, I often go into my own closet or kitchen cupboards to see if I already own something similar. The other day I was desperate for a black purse with silver hardware. Then I went into my closet and found (I’m embarrassed to tell you) that I already own a really great purse of that description. I felt like I had just gone shopping and gotten exactly what I wanted.
Your friends might be on social media, but social media is not your friend. It exists to make money. If you are scrolling through social media because you’re bored, depressed or lonely, that’s totally ok, but recognize it and own it. Take some of your power back and don’t add debt, shame, guilt and buyer’s remorse to the depression and boredom. You have the power to scroll right past ads without clicking the “shop now” button.
If you’re having trouble getting unhooked, set a loud timer and only allow yourself 10-30 minutes to be on social media. The shorter time you have to check out the latest posts from friends, the less likely you will stop and mindlessly follow tangential shopping suggestions. You can also stop certain ad suggestions from appearing in your feed and “mute” or unfollow friends whose posts trigger FOMO and shopping. Take back your power and enjoy social media for what it really is—a way to escape for a moment by looking at some pretty pictures before getting back to a perfectly satisfactory life.