Exercise: do you have a social media “news feed” of your own life?

By Mike McMahan, LPC
 
Before I start here, let me say that, despite the window dressing **THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL POST!!**
 
Still here? OK, good. Let’s proceed. Nothing in our recent history has changed the landscape of everything from pop culture to politics like the rise of social media, especially Facebook and Twitter.
 
While the nation continues to argue and rant over assorted opinions on this November’s election, perhaps there is one thing we can all agree on: your pre-existing political opinions heavily influence the way you hear news and what you choose to believe. A fascinating article from the Wall Street Journal takes this one step farther, demonstrating graphically that our political opinions seem to influence where we choose to get our news from and vice versa. This interesting demonstration will allow you to compare the news feed you might see if you are a liberal versus if you are a conservative. The results are striking—it’s like looking at the news from two different countries. In a way, maybe it is.
 
I have previously asserted that we create narratives about our own lives by picking and choosing what we choose to include in our own stories. If we feel that things that are going well, we may choose events that reinforce this general feeling (“I really had a nice date night with my spouse,” “I’m always there for my friends when they need me,” “I’m doing a good job sticking to my diet” etc.). On the other hand, if we perceive that things are going poorly in our lives, we may choose events that reinforce that general feeling (“the car is broken down,” “I’m no good at my job,” “my kids are always mad at me” and so forth).
So, inspired by the WSJ graphic demonstration above, I’m suggesting an exercise that may help you see how this works.

1. Write down (and writing is important, not just naming in your head) at least ten things that happened or ten feelings you had about yourself in the last few days. It might be good if you note things that happen and thoughts you have over a period of two or three days rather than simply “thinking back.” If you need an example of thoughts or feelings, look back the events from above (“I really had a nice date night with my spouse,” or “I’m no good at my job”).
2. Put these feelings into two different categories, just like the “liberal” and “conservative” examples in the WSJ graphic. I would suggest these categories be very general such as “good” and “bad” or “things I’m proud of” and “things I wish were different” or similar.
3. Make two different, side-by-side lists of the two different categories and put the events/feelings into the two categories. When completed your lists should resemble the news feeds from the WSJ.
4. Now ask yourself, what if someone walked up to you and said “how have things been going?” What if you only told that person things from the “good” news feed? How would that change your perception of how your life is going? On the other hand, what if you only chose events from the “bad” news feed? By definition, both lists are “true,” so which one represents what is actually going on?

Once you have completed this exercise, try to implement more items from the “good” news feed into stories about your life and how you feel about your life. As our use of language and choice of “facts” alters our overall perception, you may find that concentrating on only the “good” news feed will significantly improve your mood and outlook.
 

Mike McMahan, LPC is a psychotherapist based in San Antonio, Tx.