Scroll Free September has been compared to Dry January for alcohol and Stoptober for stopping smoking
The official line from the Royal Public Health Society is
“Scroll Free September offers a unique opportunity to take a break from all personal social media accounts for 30 days during September
A good relationship is one of balance, and Scroll Free September is here to help you gain that with social media both on and offline”
But do we need to Stop Scrolling or do we realise that social media is neither good nor bad, but the way we use it can be
Instead of #ScrollFreeSeptember I’m proposing you do as many of these as possible
SELF
1. Focus on meaningful content rather than quizzes to waste your time
2. Celebrate everything you do – even the small wins
3. Talk about your good news, more than strangers bad news
4. Refrain from comparing your life with others on social media
5. Don’t vaguebook just to elicit a reaction – call a friend and meet up in real life
6. Don’t dwell on past memories (Facebook On this Day) so much that you forget to enjoy things in the present
7. Live life because you enjoy it – don’t live life for the ‘gram
8. Read blog posts that inspire you take action – reading and not taking action is a waste of time
FRIENDS
1. When you’re with your friends, be with your friends, not your phone
2. Focus on friends more than celebrities
3. Share friends as much as newspapers
4. If your friend posts about something they’re happy with – comment as well as like – they’ll appreciate it
5. Don’t slate a friends passion / hobby
6. Promote all the good things your friends are doing in their small businesses
7. Don’t be afraid to remove / unfollow / block those former friends that make you unhappy
CAREER
1. Live the phrase “Givers Gain” – seek out ways you can help other businesses on a daily basis
2. If you’re looking to build a business monitor time spent on social for personal vs time spent on social for business – the latter should be where you’re spending your time
3. Engage with others – you’ll find more people engage with your business posts and it make you feel happier (as win more business)
4. Understand how you can maximise your time spend on social media if you know how to really use it (Get training if needed)
5. Be Positive – it’s a massive asset to business
6. Obsess about the local community and being known locally
7. Treat people with respect online and imagine you’re going to do that job till you’re 90 – if you think that way you’ll treat people with respect ALL the time
8. Leave reviews of every local business you love
NEWS
1. Use social media to talk about positive things happening in your home town
2. Refrain from reposting and sharing negative news stories on social media
3. Understand the difference between editorial and advertorial on news sites – they’re not always explictly stated
4. If international / national news affects your mental state – unfollow news sources just as you stopped buying newspapers
5. In hyperlocal groups – be the positive person in a crowd of negativity – post by post you can change perceptions
6. If you see something positive online – tag in hyperlocal community accounts on social media
INTERESTS
1. Use social media to help a cause you really care about
2. If your friends in real life don’t share your interests, join a facebook group where they do
3. Follow people who share your interests on twitter
4. Bookmark key websites about your interests and check those at set times each day rather than endlessly scrolling for something new
5. Look on Eventbrite or Meetup where you can meet people in real life that share your interests
6. Be a content producer – focus on content about your interests and in time someone might even pay you for it
For more info on Scroll Free September
https://www.rsph.org.uk/our-work/campaigns/scroll-free-september.html
