While social media has an abundance of benefits, it can also be detrimental to our time and mental health if not managed well.

Social media has expanded our ability to connect with people we may have never met otherwise. We are able to obtain skills and education on social media. We can also promote our careers, businesses, and talents through social media.

However, it can also steal our time and diminish our productivity. It can cause us to compare ourselves to others. It opens us up to negative people and personal insults.

Here are some ways to manage your social media accounts

Do follow accounts that:

• Inspire

• Educate

• Empower

• Share your interests or hobbies

Mute or unfollow accounts that:

• Make you feel small

• Trigger you

• Are aggressive, negative, or hateful

• Are not good for mental health (make you feel sad, angry, depressed)

Create boundaries for yourself

• Limit your time on social media (check it once or twice a day for 10-15 minutes)

• Limit the number of platforms you are on (the more platforms, the more time spent on social media)

• Take the app off your phone and only check it from the computer

• Don't engage with trolls and haters

• Log off all social media for a week (focus on family, friends, and self-care)

Take time for face-to-face connections in life. Americans spend between 7-8 hours a day on digital content. Don't allow screens to manage your time. Instead, take control and manage your screen time and the content on it.