Using social media and X more mindfully

Most people don't decide to spend an hour on social media. It happens in small pieces: a notification, a quick check, a reply, a scroll. Changing the settings that create those pieces works better than willpower, and a short pause at the right moments helps with the rest. This guide covers both, with X as the main example since the name of this site comes from its early days. Inner Twitter is not affiliated with X Corp.

App menus change from time to time, so the paths below may move. The settings themselves have been stable for years. If you can't find one, search the app's settings or its help center for the name.

Start with notifications

Notifications are where most unplanned sessions begin. Every badge or banner is a small invitation to open the app, and the app is designed to keep you once you're there.

On X, notification settings live under Settings and privacy, then Notifications. A few useful changes:

• Push notifications. Turn off everything you don't need to know about within the hour. For most people that means keeping direct messages from people they know and maybe replies, and switching off likes, reposts, recommendations, trends and "news" pushes.
• Quality filter. Under Filters, the quality filter hides lower-quality notifications, such as duplicate or automated-looking replies. X's help pages say it is on by default for new accounts.
• Muted notifications. Also under Filters, you can mute notifications from types of accounts, such as people you don't follow, new accounts, or accounts with a default profile photo or an unconfirmed email address. This cuts a lot of noise if your posts ever get wide attention.
• Email notifications. Easy to forget, and they pull you back from a different direction. Turn off the digest and recommendation emails.

Do the same pass for every social app on your phone. It takes ten minutes and often makes the biggest difference of anything in this guide.

Mute words and topics

Muting is a quiet tool. It doesn't block anyone or tell them anything. It just keeps chosen words, phrases or hashtags out of view.

On X, go to Settings and privacy, Privacy and safety, Mute and block, Muted words. For each word you can choose:

• whether to mute it in your Home timeline, your notifications, or both;
• whether to mute it from anyone or only from people you don't follow;
• how long: forever, 24 hours, 7 days or 30 days.

Timed mutes are the underrated option. A 7-day mute on an election, a sports result you're saving for later, or a news story that's making you anxious lets you step back without deciding to leave forever.

You can also mute individual accounts. Unlike blocking, the other person isn't told and can still see your posts.

Choose your timeline

X's Home screen has a For you tab chosen by the algorithm and a Following tab built from accounts you follow. For You is tuned to keep you scrolling. Following is narrower and has a natural end once you've caught up. If you open the app with a purpose, starting on Following makes it easier to stop.

Lists, which you can build from any set of accounts, go further: a short list of people you actually want to hear from is the calmest feed most people have.

Set limits on the phone itself

Phone operating systems have their own tools, which work for every app at once:

• iPhone and iPad: Settings, Screen Time, App Limits. Choose an app or a category such as Social, and set a daily time. When the limit is reached, the app is dimmed and you have to tap through to keep going.
• Android: Settings, Digital Wellbeing and parental controls. From the dashboard you can set an app timer for each app. When time runs out, the app is paused for the rest of the day. (Some manufacturers name this menu differently.)
• Focus and Do Not Disturb modes on both systems can silence chosen apps during work hours or in the evening, while still letting calls from favorite contacts through.

Set the limit a little below what you use now, not at an ideal number. A limit you keep teaches you more than one you override every day.

Add friction where it helps

A few small changes make automatic checking harder without making the app unusable:

• Move social apps off the first home screen, or into a folder.
• Log out on your computer, so checking takes a deliberate login.
• Use the browser version on your phone instead of the app.
• Turn the phone's display to grayscale in the evening (both iOS and Android have this in their accessibility settings). Feeds are noticeably less interesting in gray.
• Charge the phone outside the bedroom.

You don't need all of these. Pick the one that targets your most common slip.

Pause before you post

The most useful mindful moment on social media is the one before you hit Post, Reply or Repost. Take one slow breath and ask:

1. Would I say this to the person's face?
2. Am I posting to share something, or to win something?
3. Will I care about this in a week?

If the answer to any of these gives you pause, save it as a draft and come back later. Most heated replies look different an hour later. Some get posted anyway, and that's fine too.

Notice how it feels

After a session, take a moment to notice how you feel compared with before you opened the app. Calmer, more informed, more connected? Or more tense, more irritable, more tired? There's no right answer, and the same app can do both on different days. Noticing the pattern over a week tells you more about what to change than any general advice.

Use the chime as a check-in

The Inner Twitter timer is useful here too. When the chime sounds and you notice you're halfway through a scroll you didn't intend to start, that's the pause doing its job. Put the phone face down, take a breath, and decide whether to keep going. Sometimes you will, and that's your call. The point is that you chose.

For more on the pause itself, see what a mindful pause is.

Questions