Pop open your feed on Facebook, Instagram or your favourite social media feed and you’ll likely be greeted by a constant barrage of updates of your friends and celebrities that you follow having
the time of their lives and living the good life with all the trappings of luxury like expensive phones, handbags and the whatnot, holidays overseas in exotic locations and the like. Unfortunately,
this cocktail of updates and news, is also a toll on our mental wellbeing.

We usually include and have our friends and family in our social media circles as a matter of course. We also often include a host of famous celebrities into our feeds to get a taste of what the rich and famous are up to. Unfortunately, there’s a tendency for everyone on social media, whether they’re well-heeled or just getting by to show only the good things happening in their lives.

Add in the fact that most people who use social media have a tendency to compare themselves with the lives of everyone else they know and you have a recipe that can gradually wear away at your self-esteem. Another exhausting challenge that weighs on many people using social media is the fear of missing out. When everyone is uploading pictures of their social gatherings and exciting things happening in their lives, it is all too easy to feel left out or neglected by your peers. This can lead to a time-wasting, negative cycle to constantly check your social media to stay updated when you could be doing other more productive things.

The fact of the matter is that everyone is at different stages of their lives and everyone, even the rich and famous, have their own worries and burdens to bear. What you have seen online is a mere fraction of what they are showing to the public of their lives and which likely doesn’t represent the whole picture.

While the most extreme method would be to get off social media entirely, that’s not exactly an option in our highly connected society. Interestingly enough, Malaysia has one of the most active populations when it comes to social media. According to the Hootsuite Digital 2019 report, 78% of the population are using social media – that’s 25 million active social media users out of a total population of 32.25 million as of 2019. In controlled doses, social media does have its benefits as it accomplishes its original goals – to keep users socially connected with friends and family.

The SOLUTION here is:
• To follow the positive reinforcing social media;
• Unfollow negative social media accounts and instead follow more positive ones that help you feel good about yourself;
• Learn practical tips and advice applicable to real life, be it for your career or even a useful life hack and more.

First off, start thinning down who you follow on social media. You can still remain friends with people and simply unfollow them so that you don’t see their posts as often. After thinning down your feeds, try and follow more uplifting social media sites and pages such as the Communications and Multimedia Consumer Forum of Malaysia (CFM) which offers a host of very practical tips on digital living and more.

Here are a few helpful sites to get you started:

Everyone’s favourite site for top tips and news on consumer rights, communications and multimedia in Malaysia.

You can get information about financial products in Malaysia such as credit card, loans, investment, insurance. 

A social news site that serves you with more entertaining videos that will make you laugh your heart out.

Give you the emotional support if you need someone to talk to. They are reachable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

A host of wonderfully positive and uplifting messages and pictures along with some cool merchandise too. 

Your dose of daily inspiration. 

See hundreds of beautifully shot photos of flora and fauna from all over the world. 

Whimsical and wonderful pictures of man’s best friend in your feed daily! 

The infotainment video platform where you can get a lot of sharing from various perspectives.

Brings Malaysian doctors from 38 different disciplines on Twitter who share current health information and answer health related questions.

Everything about medicine in Malaysia. 

Provide you with hundreds of high-quality resources to help you learn and improve your English. 

Short helpful snippets on how to tackle English grammar and useful words to beef up your vocabulary. 

Provide you the DIY ideas, tips and tricks.

A platform that shows the latest vacancies for jobs in Malaysia along with some helpful career tips. 

A guy who shares tips on career and self-development.

Source: SHOUT 2019 BUMPER EDITION

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~consumerinfo.my :: another website by Communications & Multimedia Consumer Forum of Malaysia (CFM)~