Do you sometimes feel like your social media is a vacuum? Do you feel like you’re pouring your heart out trying to connect with people, but nobody responds? The changes to the algorithms on Facebook and Instagram mean that fewer people than ever are seeing your posts, and you likely have fewer likes and less common than you used to. First of all, you’re not alone. Unless you have a massive following, and even if you do, it’s highly likely that your account is either stagnant, or declining in visibility. Maybe you don’t care. Maybe your social media channels are just a place that you go mindlessly scrolling, double tapping, and occasionally commenting as you pass the time at the DMV or the awkward party where you don’t know anyone.

#ResocializeYourMedia Blog/Vlog/Instagram Challenge

But maybe you want your social media channels to be more than that. Maybe you want them to be a place for real connection, a stepping stone towards real life friendships, or a place for people to feel seen and heard.

I know I feel that way. I use social media when I’m looking for engagement, connection, and community. I want it to be a conversation, a two way street, a coffee date with a good friend that just happens to be taking place over the intererwebs, via my blog or this little square box. Maybe that’s an unrealistic goal? Maybe the best we can hope for is a little surge of dopamine each time we see numbers next to a thumbs up sign or a little heart. But the thing is, IDGAF about those numbers. I don’t care anymore about my life looking pretty, or sharing yet another perfectly staged, perfectly posed yoga shot on the beach at sunset. I do, however, care about the caption below the picture. Care about the feeling that the picture captures. I care about the person who sees it, the way they feel, and whether the words or images can somehow create connection between us. I care about the comments, because I care about the people leaving them. I care about what those people hope for, dream of, and whether they feel heard and seen.

Do you think we can re-socialize our media? Can we use these platforms, which have often become dissociated from our real lives, to build bridges, extend olive branches, and help each other feel our virtual nodding as we read each other’s truth and then say, “yeah, me too.”

Can we try? Will you try with me? Below are 26 writing prompts for this blog/vlog/instagram challenge, #ResocializeYourMedia. I’ll answer one per week here on the blog and instagram! I’d love if you want to join me!

26 Easy Writing Prompts

1. Ask Anything. Think of this as an icebreaker, where you choose 1-3 questions to ask your reader, and also answer them in your post. Examples: What are the top three places you want to see before you die? What is your spirit animal, and why? If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? What is your best quality and your worst? What are your three loftiest life goals? Do you believe in good and evil? Why or why not?
2. Before the Blog. Share 5 things about yourself or your past which may surprise your readers.
3. Confession. Open up and get vulnerable about something others may struggle with as well. Examples: I struggle with binge eating, I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up, I’ve been in community college for 14 years without graduating, etc.
4. Dream It, Do It. Make a bucket list or a to do list for the next year. Choose 10-30 things that you want to do, small or big, and write about them, then use those as opportunities to create more interesting content for your blog.
5. Express Yourself. Choose 3-5 pieces of artwork or photos which give us a visual representation of who you are. Don’t explain, just let the images do the talking. Share one on IG.
6. Fear vs Faith. What are you afraid of? What do you believe in? How can your faith help you overcome your fear?
7. Goals. Write 1-3 goals for this year, or a photo blog of inspiration for the year.
8. Healthy Happy Habits. Share 3-5 little things you do every to stay healthy and happy. (Example: go outside, drink water, gratitude, eat the rainbow,  connect with real life loved ones, move your body).
9. Intimacy.  If you really knew me, you would know that…
10. Jams. Top 3 songs you’re loving now. Or fave song ever. Or 3 most memorable songs (sugar magnolia, whatever you like, from where I am standing). Make a playlist that includes your personal anthems from every decade you’ve been alive. Share the stories, or leave the mystery.
11. Kiss and Tell. First kiss, best kiss, worst kiss, last kiss goodbye, puppy kisses, forehead kisses, Hershey’s kisses, kiss of death, how my dream lover will kiss me, the kiss that changed everything…
12. Lust List. What are you crushing on right now? What are you finding totally drool worthy and irresistible? Make it category specific, like shoes, yoga wear, gurus, superfoods, smoothie recipes, makeup, Pinterest faves for decor, etc.)
13. Mission and Message. Look at the recurring patterns in your life, specially the challenges that keep occurring or the lies that play on repeat in your head. These are your clues. The lies we tell ourselves specifically chosen to prevent us from realizing our highest selves. Your greatest growth lies beyond your greatest fear. If I could share a message with the entire world it would be this:
14. Name. research the etymology and meaning of your names (all of them) and write about why it suits you or doesn’t.
15. Open up. Write about the hardest thing you’ve been through, something you thought would break you, and what helped you survive?
16. Pay it Forward. Choose your favorite 3 bloggers, vloggers, or instagrammers and share their blogs!
17. Quit. Plastics, smoking, cheerleading, comparison, alcohol… what have you quit, or what do you need to quit? What tips or tricks helped you along the way?
18. Reality Check & Reframing Regret. Where did you envision yourself to be at that age you are now? What parts of that vision did you realize, and where are you far from what you imagined? Are there choices you regret in life? In what way did your regret lead to where you are now?
19. Self-Love Letter. Write a love letter to the body part you struggle with the most.
20. Ten Things I Can’t Live Without. Lists are awesome. Make one of the ten things you just can’t get by without. Can be category specific (10 Yoga Must Haves) or general (family, friends, music, mexican food, etc…)
21. Uplift. Write a message of encouragement to someone who needs it (can be anonymous, like “Dear all the mamas, people who are depressed, those with mental health issues, millennials, or specific person/blogger.) See them. Write a message to uplift their spirits, and share on social.
22. Visualize. Get crazy specific on visualizing the life you want with bhavanization journaling. Write a letter from a point in the future and describe everything in detail: your life, relationship, career, health, family, adventure, anything is fair game. Get more detail on Bhavanization in this blog post. 
23. Wisdom. What is the best advice you ever received? What quote inspires you the most? What words of wisdom can you share with your community?
24. X Marks the Spot. Share your most sacred place, favorite place you’ve ever traveled, or number one place on your travel bucket list. Write a short post about where you’d stay, eat, activities – manifest your dream vacation! 
25. Youth. Write a letter to your 13, 18, or 21 year old self, and give her/him some advice for navigating next 10 years.
26. Zodiac. Hey baby, what’s your sign? Check out your detailed horoscope for your birthday and write a reflection on whether it suits you, or whether you think astrology is BS.

Tags: blog prompts, resocialize your media, writing challenge, writing prompts