Are you feeling like social media isn’t safe right now?

Do you hesitate before checking Facebook each day, unsure of what you might see?

Do you think (or overthink) every post and comment, afraid of who you might offend?

If you can answer “yes” to any of the above, this article is for you. Keep reading to find out how to take charge of your news feed (or, how you can wipe out negativity on social media).

This article is the result of a post I wrote not too long ago about why good people don’t get to quit social media when the world loses its mind. I believe that when you say you have been given a message to the world, you owe it to the world to suit up, show up and speak up consistently. Even when social media is a frothy cauldron of outrage, you owe it to your audience to be a beacon of light in the darkness.

But I also understand you’re human — I am too. That means we have emotions and get overwhelmed. But there is a way to stay active on social media and avoid the negativity. You start by being the boss of your news feed. Here’s five tools to help you do just that. And if you’d like the tools in a convenient download, click here to access the complete checklist.

Download News Feed Eradicator for Facebook

Most of the grief on Facebook comes from what you see on your news feed. News Feed Eradicator is a Chrome extension that eliminates your news feed and replaces it with a motivational quote, allowing you to do what you need to do on Facebook without distraction. Download it here: https://tonya.link/eradicator

Organize Your Friends Into Lists

If you aren’t using lists on either Facebook or Twitter, now is the time to start. Lists allow you to organize your friends and the people you follow into categories so you can decide when and how to check in on their posts.

Manage Your Notifications

All social media platforms allow you to manage how you are notified of updates. You can choose to receive email, text or push notifications to your mobile devices. On Facebook, you can toggle notifications with an even higher level of specificity based on your preference.

Protect Your Post Privacy

Did you know you can control who sees or responds to your social media messages? Every time you Tweet, you have the option to choose who can reply. On Facebook, you can get even more specific, specifying exactly who can and can’t see each post.

Silence Frequent Offenders

Both Facebook and Twitter allow you to mute conversations and users. On Facebook, you can put your friends on snooze for 30 days or unfollow them so you don’t see their posts in your newsfeed but stay in touch.

These tips are quick AND effective. Need help balancing what you can do on social media with what you should do? Let’s talk! Schedule a free Borrow My Brain session: https://tonya.link/brain.