We live part of our lives online. Many of us have multiple social media accounts across many, many different apps. Online often feels inescapable. We are consistently being told about current events that we “must” care about. Oftentimes, we cannot avoid an article, a TikTok, or an Instagram reel about something happening in the world. We are told that we must care. That we have to do our part and that whatever event has occurred is the most important thing you will see today.
We are constantly pulled in many directions and told to care about so many things. We punish ourselves by engaging in toxic comment sections where people will say anything to get more engagement. It becomes harder and harder for us to recognize what is real, what has been created by AI, and what is “rage baiting.”
We recognize that so much screen time is not healthy for us, but it is hard to look away from. The internet and social media can be draining, potentially so draining that it leads to emotional burnout or compassion fatigue. Emotional burnout is a cumulative sense of fatigue or dissatisfaction. Burnout can lead you to feel exhausted like you can’t handle things that were once easy to handle. Compassion fatigue is a term that describes the physical, emotional, and psychological impact of helping others. Compassion fatigue can lead you to experience feelings of stress or, in extreme cases, secondary trauma.
Here are 5 ways to help combat feelings of emotional burnout or compassion fatigue when engaging with content online:
- Ask yourself, “How long have I been online? Is it time to stop scrolling?”
- Ask yourself, “Is the content I’m looking at helping me or hurting me? Am I learning something, or am I upsetting myself?”
- Think about what you might do without your electronics. Would you create something? Go somewhere? Get more rest and relaxation? It is important for us to take breaks from our screens. It is important to remind ourselves of the world outside of our phones and computers.
- Ask yourself, “Is this post rage-baiting?” Rage-baiting is when a person, a company, or an AI makes a post online that is intended to make someone angry. This anger brings more engagements, and more engagements bring more attention to the poster.
- Have conversations with the people in your life about how they budget their time online. Talk to your friends and family about the content that you are seeing online, especially when it is upsetting to you.
About Amanda Kaliner:
Amanda Kaliner (she/her/hers) is a Resident in Counseling providing both telehealth and in-person sessions at Healthy Minds Therapy. Amanda has extensive experience working with adolescents in school, group therapy, and outpatient settings. She currently specializes in LGBTQIA+ issues, mood disorders, self-esteem, peer relations, and life transitions for adolescents in young adults ages 10 – 30.