Dear Friend,

from Keep Social Media Social: Summer 2021

and how to get off

Let me start this note by sharing my deep appreciation for how all of you responded to this publication in December. The texts, calls and social media posts meant the world to our team. Thank you so much for supporting us, and for keeping social media social.

Last issue, we started talking about mental health and social media. In this issue, you’ll see that we’ve doubled down and made it our main focus, as May is Mental Health Awareness month. Our intention for the content in this issue is to not only raise awareness of how social media and technology impact mental health, but also introduce some actionable steps to take if your relationship with technology or social media is not currently in a healthy place.

Why? Because we’ve lived this, and we are still living this. Every single person on our team has had to learn how to intentionally step away from the computer, Zoom meeting or phone and set firmer boundaries to prevent and mitigate things like burnout and anxiety. We know we are not alone in this!

Recent events around the country add even more weight to the message of this issue. Over the past few weeks, multiple traumatic events have shaken the physical and digital worlds. In Atlanta, we saw the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community targeted, and eight people were killed. In one of our home states of Colorado, we experienced a mass shooting in Boulder at a grocery store that took the lives of ten people. And just a few days ago, there was some hope as Derek Chauvin was criminally charged and held accountable for killing George Floyd.

In the wake of these events, individuals and groups continue to turn to social media to process their trauma and attempt to create awareness and long-lasting change.. While many of these efforts have had positive impacts, there is still more work to do, and in this issue, you’ll see we advocate for getting offline and doing more work IRL (in real life).

For many of us, this work may start with inward reflection and reconnection with our consciousness. Connecting with our consciousness has a big impact on our mental well-being and that reflection allows us to examine where we need to put intentional energy.

As the cover states, no amount of ‘likes’ on social media will ever matter if we don’t like ourselves. The love and acceptance we may be looking for online is nothing compared to the love we can feel when connecting with others offline.

This summer, let’s choose to intentionally GTFO!™️ and continue to reconnect with others in our community.

See many of you IRL soon,

Ifyou are receiving this magazine unexpectedly, fear not! I have intentionally chosen people to be sent this issue. You are one of my favorite brands or businesses, and I have likely stopped in or shopped onlinewithyour business in the lastyear. Please enjoy this gift!