There are many ways to make yourself feel miserable. Watching the news or following the wrong people on Twitter may do the trick, pushing you into a spiral of negative feelings. But you are defined by the people you surround yourself with. That includes the people you surround yourself with via your social media accounts. So, if you surround yourself with negativity on the internet, that’s what you will become … negative. However, the internet, and Twitter, are just tools. You can use them differently.
So, if you are really looking to feel a lot better, perhaps instead of following Donald Trump, or CNN, or whatever makes you feel bad, you may opt for Twitter accounts that make you wiser or happier, such as:
- Maria Popova (@brainpicker), who curates the excellent Brainpickings.org;
- Amanda Palmer (@amandapalmer), an excellent artist and one of the most grateful people on the planet, absolutely in touch with her fans;
- Nell Watson (@NellWatson), one of the foremost thinkers about the future of robotics;
- The Cramped (@TheCramped), an account solely about the pleasures of analog writing;
- Information is Beautiful (@infobeautiful), an account about data visualisation;
- God (@TheTweetOfGod), who only follows Justin Bieber;
- Letters of Note (@LettersOfNote), an account about wonderful letters that made a difference in one or many lives;
- Preschool Gems (@PreSchoolGems), an account by a pre-school teacher, just reporting what was overheard during class;
- and finally, if all else fails, the nuclear option, Emergency Kittens (@EmrgencyKittens), an account that illustrates what the Internet was actually made for … sharing pictures of cute cats.
If none of these helps, please seek help. Or delete Twitter altogether.
Exploring The Black Box 