Curating a Healthier Scroll: The Art of Digital Boundaries
Ever opened TikTok or Instagram, seen something so utterly unhinged you just had to watch it to the bitter end? Maybe you even hovered over the comment button, fingers twitching, wondering how on earth someone thought, “Yes, this is the content the world needs.” Congrats, you’ve just been rage baited. Welcome to the trap — your outrage is the engagement they are seeking.
Sure, there are creators out there sharing brilliant, thoughtful, funny, even life-changing content. And then there are the chaos agents — people who post inflammatory nonsense purely to stir the pot and rack up comments. And guess what? It works. The more you rage, the more their content thrives. Tempting as it is to clap back with a paragraph and a half of justice… don’t. Just block. Seriously. Protect your peace like it’s concert tickets to your favorite artist.
Now, I’m not saying avoid all opposing viewpoints. It’s healthy — essential, really — to engage with perspectives that challenge your own. Growth doesn't happen in echo chambers. But there’s a world of difference between content that’s thoughtfully disagreeing with you and content that’s just trying to make you foam at the mouth. Keep the former. Ditch the latter.
Personally, I want my social feeds to make me laugh, think, or learn something cool — not question humanity. If a video or post makes my eye twitch, I hit block. Nothing personal. Maybe that creator is someone else's cup of tea. But me? I’m sipping something else.
And hey, I get it — “But I can’t block Aunt Susan or she’ll passive-aggressively bring it up at Easter brunch!” Easy fix: mute her. Instagram and Facebook let you do this quietly. She’ll be none the wiser, and you get to scroll in peace.
Moral of the story? Your feed, your rules. If content is draining your energy or hijacking your mood, get rid of it. The algorithm might try to throw junk your way, but you don’t have to let it stick. Curate a feed that you feel fueled by, not fried by.
