Social media platforms are an incredible supply of data and leisure. In addition they assist us to keep up contact with family and friends. However social media also can – and has, typically – turn out to be a poisonous atmosphere for spreading disinformation, hatred and battle.
Most individuals can’t or don’t need to choose out of social media. Efforts by courts and state our bodies to control or management it are slowly catching up, however thus far have been unsuccessful. And social media firms have a document of prioritising engagement over social profit.
Customers are left with a dilemma: easy methods to profit from social media with out exposing themselves to distressing, damaging or unlawful content material. This turns into much more of a problem in instances of heightened international rigidity and battle. Each the battle in Ukraine and now the Gaza Conflict have elevated the danger of seeing horrifying and damaging photos on one’s feed.
This text, based mostly on my analysis on information on social media, is a information to curating and modifying your social media feeds to make sure that the content material you see is suited to your wants and isn’t offensive or disturbing.
It’s organised into the broadest social media classes. I’m not masking newer providers akin to Threads, Mastodon, Publish and Bluesky, though the ideas are usually relevant. I’ve centered on utilizing these apps on a cell phone, as a result of that’s what nearly all of customers do, slightly than utilizing them on an online browser. I’m concentrating totally on video content material.
Social media could be a highly effective device for data and studying, however it’s a flawed one. No matter method you’re taking to managing your feeds, stay cautious and sceptical. Take note of updates to insurance policies and consumer agreements and take into account rigorously who you belief and observe.
Your selection or theirs?
Many social networks provide an algorithmically chosen feed as your first level of contact. The specifics of the algorithms should not publicly recognized and the businesses refine them continually. The feed is basically based mostly in your location and the matters and folks you might have expressed an curiosity in beforehand (whether or not following, or just having watched or interacted with the content material). It might additionally embrace different data akin to your age and gender, which you’ll have beforehand given the service.
Learn extra:
Algorithms are moulding and shaping our politics. This is easy methods to keep away from being gamed
Organisations and people make investments time and money in guaranteeing that their content material can be seen. Advertisers may also pay to have their content material proven to prospects who meet their standards. It’s also essential to do not forget that paid content material is not only items and providers on the market, however could also be a political or social agenda – typically one that’s hidden. That is the idea of faux information and deliberate misinformation.
Listed here are just a few methods to handle your social media feeds.
Watch out who you observe
On all networks besides TikTok, the bottom line is rigorously deciding on the folks you observe.
On Twitter (X) the most suitable choice is to maneuver away from the “for you” web page (which is the default view) and give attention to the “following” web page. You may’t take away the “for you” web page completely. The “following” feed consists of everybody you observe, their tweets and their retweets.
In case you are seeing content material you don’t need to, you possibly can unfollow, block or mute them.
The best technique to clear up your Fb information feed is to “unfriend” accounts. An alternative choice is to “unfollow” somebody: you stay mates, they’ll see your content material and interact with it, however their posts gained’t seem in your feed until they point out you otherwise you search it out. Or you possibly can “take a break” from somebody, which is a type of non permanent block. Blocking is essentially the most excessive possibility. It should take away them and all of their content material and conceal all of yours from them.
Instagram presents comparable choices to unfollow and mute (much like Fb’s “take a break” possibility).
TikTok has solely restricted choices for customers to filter or curate their feeds. The “following” web page solely reveals creators you might be following (and adverts). It isn’t and may’t be set because the default view.
The “for you” web page is completely algorithm pushed. Clicking on a creator solely permits you to observe them, to not cover or block them. You may, nonetheless, block particular customers. Click on on their profile, then the share icon. “Report” and “block” are under the varied share choices. Blocking removes their content material, however not different customers’ content material that options them.
Discover your settings
Many platforms have choices for limiting violent or graphic content material. On Fb that is buried within the Settings menu. From there, click on on Information Feed, then Scale back. You may’t take away this content material, however you possibly can transfer it down in your feed.
On TikTok, lengthy urgent on the display screen brings up the choices panel. From there you possibly can report a video; there’s additionally a “not ” choice to take away that video and others with comparable hashtags out of your feed. If you happen to click on on “particulars” to see which hashtags can be filtered, you possibly can choose particular ones to dam. It’s not clear how dependable that is, nonetheless – hashtags change over time. Numerous hashtags apparently can’t be filtered, however it’s not clear what these are or why they’ll’t be filtered.
The “content material preferences” possibility below “settings” permits you to filter video key phrases. That removes them out of your “for you” web page, your “following” web page, or each.
You may also set TikTok to “restricted mode”. This limits entry to “unsuitable content material” – an opaque description.
Person beware
This isn’t an ideal information, since social media just isn’t designed to be managed by the consumer. These firms are based mostly on consumer engagement: the extra time you spend on their app, the more cash they make. They’re not notably concerned about guaranteeing the content material is useful or correct.
