With many of us spending more time online than ever before, it’s important to focus on being respectful, resilient and kind. You can use some of our wellbeing strategies to help you have safer and more positive experiences online.
Look after yourself and keep supportive people around you
Regularly check in with yourself to monitor your wellbeing in both online and offline environments. Practise self-care by making time to exercise, using relaxation techniques, eating nutritional food and getting enough sleep.
Make sure you reach out for support from people around you who make you feel safe. If you’re experiencing a negative situation online, don’t deal with it alone – talk with family, friends, colleagues and mentors. You might also feel comfortable contacting a counselling or support service if you need more advice or feel like you don’t have someone close to talk to.
It’s also a good idea to check in on your friends and family, if you think they are struggling with their wellbeing online and may need help.
Take a look at our pages to help you, and your friends and family, deal with online abuse:
Maintain balance with online and offline activities
It can be enjoyable to have online social contact, but it's also important to consider balancing your screen time with other ways of connecting, communicating, learning and working offline.
If you feel like you’re constantly refreshing your apps or checking notifications, it might be a good time to start taking regular breaks from being online or turn off your notifications to help you find a better balance between time online and offline.
Find more tips and advice about how to manage your screen time.
Avoid doomscrolling and think critically about what you see online
Staying informed on issues that affect you and engaging in conversations online with others who are interested in similar things can be important for your sense of belonging and personal fulfilment.
Make sure you’re thinking about why you’re online and how it’s making you feel.
This can help you to decide whether you should have more time away from your screen or change the content that you're looking at.
You can start by ask yourself if you’ve been doomscrolling. This is when you mindlessly scroll through and click on negative news articles, social media posts and other content, then feel sad, stressed or depressed by what you’re seeing. It can also impact your view of the world, especially if you keep seeing the same opinions and content over and over again – this might mean you’re in an ‘echo chamber’ or ‘filter bubble’, and you’re no longer seeing a healthy range of different perspectives on an issue.
Think critically about what you see and hear online by actively looking for different opinions from a variety of sources. You don’t need to agree with everything, but it can help you get a better understanding of what the wider context is, and the range of views held on an issue. Keep questioning what your own views are, as well as those of people around you. Thinking critically can also help you avoid being tricked into believing misinformation or falling for online scams.
Remember, the content that you follow, like and engage with can affect what you see on online. Try following accounts that are funny, informative or inspiring to change the algorithm of your social and news feeds, and block material or accounts that make you feel uncomfortable or unsafe.
Stay safe while gaming
Online gaming can be a healthy way to connect with friends. It can also improve your problem-solving skills, as well as provide stress relief if it’s in a positive and enjoyable environment.
Avoid gaming communities that use online hate or negative talk. You can use in-game functions to mute or block content or accounts you don’t want to interact with. This way, you can maintain a respectful gaming experience, and have fun at the same time.
Read more about how to protect yourself from online abuse when gaming.
