Current challenges
- What is my direction
- People’s feelings and reactions are different, be more comprehensive
- The experts I found are only physiologists, with an overly singular point of view
- Reasons for escaping from reality to the internet, and how to pull their attention back to reality
- What is my new knowledge
Tutorial feedback
- Find out the different people engaging with social media
- Break my question into two groups: social media and anxiety
- Ask influencers whose life depends on social media about how they feel, and what to learn from them
- Probably find people who don’t use phones at all
Based on these suggestions, I dm influencers of fashion, beauty, and entertainment news on Chinese social media Xiaohongshu (Red) and Weibo, but only received one reply from a fashion influencer, and even got blackmailed by some. And those who don’t use mobile phones are currently out of reach for the time being with my ability to find them.
Interview
Xuxiaomiao is a freelance writer in the fashion industry, she doesn’t know much about FOMO though, and in my interview with her, she shared a lot of insights about social media trends and emotions.
What’s your biggest insight into using social media as a blogger?
It’s part of my job as a blogger to update posts from time to time, but other than that, to be honest, the whole thing of opening up various platforms and always being presented with similar things can be intimidating. Sometimes hours go by without realising that I’ve watched a few short videos and then realise that I don’t remember anything, or even watching a show or a movie can start to feel like it’s slow-paced, and it’s all starting to make me a little fearful and increase my anxiety.
If posts on Chinese social media want to be seen, they have to conform to its algorithms: the headlines have to be sensational and the content has to be powerful enough. The more accurate its algorithms are, the more concentrated the information cocoon is. As a result, the professionalism and authority of knowledge are repeatedly reduced, and content that meets the rules of the algorithm will be continuously recommended to our top page, no matter how good or bad it is, and even more so, no matter whether it is true or false.
How do you see this changing?
For a long time, I’ve been urging people to be ‘aware’ of their use of social media and to avoid being controlled by algorithms as much as possible. By ‘aware’, I mean that we no longer open social media unconsciously and browse aimlessly, but search for the content we need selectively and purposefully. In addition, when faced with scientific knowledge on social media, we should not be lazy or take shortcuts, but always remain sceptical and use it as a clue for in-depth study and research, to truly understand it. This approach will help us to be as free from algorithms as possible and instead make the content on social media work for us.
We can’t resist the changing of the times with any one technology, just as horse-drawn carriages can’t resist being replaced by cars, so AI will replace some professions. All we can do is remain objective, exercise restraint, and try not to be swallowed up by the algorithms as much as possible. Real change starts with awareness.
How do you feel about social media trends?
Social media fads are essentially a reflection of the times and society, they are time-bound, they don’t last long, and they are quickly replaced by the next wave of trends. However, if writers wish to leave behind meaningful and valuable content, they must be careful about following trends. It is of no value or significance if it does not evoke reflection.
How do you relieve the stress that social media causes you?
I think one of the fun things about being human is how we see emotions and how we deal with them. Joy and excitement are positive emotions and sadness and anger are negative emotions. Negative emotions not only bring bad moods to people, but they also affect their physical condition.
The essence of a lot of mindfulness practice is that we can learn to look at the objects that cause negative emotions in a way that is less damaging to our health. Choose to take a proactive stance, become consciously aware of how your self is feeling, and then adjust your perspective on the problem. As an example, you break up with your long-time lover. The ‘negative’ thought is, ‘I’ll never find someone who loves me more. But the ‘positive’ thought is, ‘I said goodbye to the person who was unsuitable and disturbed me, and I will be happier in my future life than I was before.’ The latter is a more proactive way of self-adjustment.
I have a set of tricks that is writing down the uncomfortable emotions and the objects of things that cause such emotions, and then answering them as if they were quiz questions, such as why am I uncomfortable, what are the uncomfortable objects, what can I do to solve the status of the situation, and so on, to find the answers for myself, and it is very effective.