National Unfriend Day: Trimming The Toxicity

Today marks the 10th annual National Unfriend Day. While some of you may have thought it was on Election Day, today is actually the official day to make some cuts on your social media friends list. I know this sounds harsh, but think of it as a tool to improving your mental health.

Ever look at the number of friends you have on facebook and wonder how the heck the number got so high? I have 643 friends on mine and I can tell you I only actually interact with a fraction of them. Why am I still friends with some woman I met at a coworker's baby shower in 2009? Especially when everything she posts is negative and triggering? And I can only imagine that affects the algorithm. I find myself scrolling through toxic posts and feeling anxious and annoyed. Time to *click, click* delete them!

Odds are, those people you friended years ago who you barely remember probably feel the same way about you. Get comfortable trimming the fat, so to speak, without worry that someone is going to be mad at you. A lot of times it's not as personal as all that. It's good to just cleanse the timeline and create a fresh space to interact with family and real friends.

Unfriending still sounding too harsh? Utilize the 'mute' and 'hide' features so you don't have to see posts from people you couldn't care less about. Whichever way you do it, preserving your social media space as a safe place to enjoy networking and community is good for your mental health. Take care of you and unfriend in whatever way works best for you.