How to Design a Hopeful Digital Environment

Like everyone else, I often feel like I’m facing a relentless storm of digital information.

Excessive emails, social media, and instant messaging leave us overwhelmed and disengaged.

Fostering hope may offer an answer. Psychologists have long recognized its power to build and maintain a positive motivational state that supports goal-directed determination and planning (Snyder, 2000).

Researchers continue to recognize the potential of hope theory in all areas of our lives, including online, to acknowledge problems while remaining confident that better outcomes are possible (Abramson, 2024; Snyder, 2000).

The article explores the psychology of hope in the technological age and how to design a more hopeful digital environment.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our five positive psychology tools for free. These engaging, science-based exercises will help you effectively deal with difficult circumstances and give you the tools to improve the resilience of your clients, students, or employees.

The Psychology of Hope: Why It’s Crucial in the Digital Age

“Hope isn’t a denial of what is, but a belief that the current situation is not all that can be,” said previous American Psychological Association president Thema Bryant (Abramson, 2024, para. 3).

In contrast to the endless positive, yet often empty, quotes shared on social media, hope is not wishful thinking. Instead, hope has key elements that combine to offer powerful coping mechanisms and the drive to successful transformation (Snyder, 2000).

Charles Snyder’s (1994) hope theory identifies hope as a positive motivational state built on:

• Agency (goal-directed energy)
• Pathways (planning to meet goals)

As such, hope is much more than a feeling or a thought. Rather, it’s a cognitive and motivational process that requires us to seek out paths to desired goals and build the mindset to implement them (Snyder, 1994, 2000, 2002).

Hope serves as a buffer to stress. It can lift our spirits and expand our view of what’s possible. In our hyper-connected digital era, it can create a hopeful digital environment that protects us from negativity and harmful messages (Faulhaber et al., 2023; Samra et al., 2022).

Hope vs. Helplessness in the Information Age

Feelings of helplessness can result from today’s information overload.

Helplessness is a state of powerlessness, where we believe we have no control over the outcome (Snyder, 2000; Laranjeira & Querido, 2022).

Social media can be particularly damaging when accompanied by harmful or hurtful messaging or when it sets unrealistic expectations for our lives. We may enter a state of learned helplessness because of the toxic or overwhelming amount of digital engagement and the harm it does to our emotional wellbeing (Abramson, 2024; Faulhaber et al., 2023).

On the other hand, hope can be both healing and proactive, encouraging action, focus, and motivation.

“A growing body of research suggests that if you want to cultivate positive change—in yourself, others, or society—restoring hope is a vital first step.”

Abramson, 2024, para. 1

While hope can grow in isolation, it is significantly boosted by connecting with supportive and inspiring communities. Finding an appropriate online group that avoids toxic behavior and negates doomscrolling can increase positive emotions, enhance how we see our future, and lead to a more hopeful digital environment (Abramson, 2024).

How Digital Environments Impact Mental Health

Our digital environments can shape our emotional wellbeing and are influenced by several related yet individual features of online life (Faulhaber et al., 2023).

Social comparison

Social media can profoundly impact the availability and degree of social comparison we experience. Platforms curate and present the highlights of people’s lives, giving the impression that they are better off than we are, with better, happier relationships and everything the “good life” has to offer (Samra et al., 2022).

As a result, we witness endless highlight reels that can foster feelings of inadequacy, anxiety, and body image issues (Samra et al., 2022).

Such idealized portrayals lead to upward social comparison, and increased social media addiction can result in higher levels of depressive symptoms (Samra et al., 2022).

Exposure to sensational and negative content

Online news and social media typically prioritize sensational and emotionally charged content to capture our attention. Each day, users disproportionately receive a stream of crises, disasters, outrage, and controversy, and little in the way of positive occurrences across the world (Shabahang et al., 2021).

Constant and skewed exposure to negative and often sensationalized online stories heightens anxiety and leads to a more pessimistic view of humanity and the world (Shabahang et al., 2021).

Algorithmic influence

Our social media content is highly curated, involving strategically designed algorithms that grab our attention and increase engagement. Such platforms rely on our attention economy, amplifying content and potentially our fear (Shabahang et al., 2024).

Unfortunately, high-arousal emotions such as anger, fear, and outrage can result, leading to an echo chamber of negativity that makes it more challenging to cultivate a hopeful digital environment grounded in balance and perspective (Shabahang et al., 2024).

Emotional spillover from negative content

Having read or watched upsetting news stories or engaging in confrontational online discussions, our emotions can impact our behavior offline. This emotional spillover can result in continued anger, anxiety, and irritability throughout the rest of the day, without us fully understanding its root cause (Rubin & Beuk, 2021).

Social media is particularly impactful, and regular users may experience increased loneliness, envy, depression, and anxiety. However, it’s not all bad (Rubin & Beuk, 2021).

When used and experienced positively, social media can overcome boredom, facilitate free expression, and encourage positive attitudes, including kindness and sociability (Rubin & Beuk, 2021).

What Is a Media Diet & Why Does It Matter?

Our media diet refers to what we consume online. Like our food diet, what we absorb shapes whether we create a toxic or hopeful digital environment supporting our overall wellness. It includes the social media posts we scroll through, the cat videos we watch, and the blogs and podcasts we subscribe to (Shabahang et al., 2021; Shabahang et al., 2024).

A media diet consisting of primarily envy-inducing photos and short-form videos, doom-and-gloom news, and inflammatory talk shows can impact our mental wellbeing and negatively shape our worldview (Rubin & Beuk, 2021).

What is information hygiene and media literacy?

Information hygiene refers to habits that encourage clean and safe media consumption. It can include sanitizing our data by practicing the following (Austin et al., 2012; Lee & Ramazan, 2021):

• Verifying the credibility of sources (or sticking to reliable and constructive journalism)
• Avoiding sharing unverified rumors
• Being mindful of biases
• Limiting the time we spend on known misinformation sites
• Double-checking shocking or unlikely claims

Media-literate individuals critically analyze media content and filter out what may be toxic and false. While it’s not easy to do, they recognize that algorithms promote what is trending and push biased propaganda and sponsored content.

For example, increased crime reporting does not mean criminal activity is more common. Awareness can help clients build a more hopeful digital environment based on realistic perception rather than media bias (Austin et al., 2012; Lee & Ramazan, 2021).

Spillover effects of negative media use

While an unhealthy digital diet can impact our feelings, it may also negatively affect our attention, motivation, and behavior. During times of crises, such as a pandemic or political instability, anxiety and feelings of helplessness are heightened (Rubin & Beuk, 2021). As a result, we may be less likely to pursue value-driven goals or hobbies we previously enjoyed.

Late-night social media consumption and use of digital devices is proven to disrupt sleep cycles, and increased stress can lead to unhealthy habits, including increased alcohol consumption and overeating (Rubin & Beuk, 2021).

9 Positive Psychology Tips for Designing a Hopeful Digital Environment

Positive psychology offers simple ways to make our digital lives more hopeful, helping us to create more frequent positive moments online and stay engaged rather than scrolling passively (Hunt et al., 2018; Verduyn et al., 2017).

It also has the potential to strengthen our connections by encouraging supportive interactions and relationships that buffer the impact of harmful content (Verduyn et al., 2017).

Finally, it can align our digital habits with personal values and goals. In doing so, people experience more purpose and notice small wins that build motivation over time (Sahay, 2023; Tomasulo, 2020).

Here are nine practical tips based on positive psychology you can use with clients (Hunt et al., 2018; Sahay, 2023; Verduyn et al., 2017; Tomasulo, 2020).

1. Create a balanced media diet
   Assess the quantity and quality of digital media you consume. Unsubscribe from toxic, misleading, or chronically distressing feeds and websites.
2. Set limits
   Create reasonable and realistic time limits for when and how much you will consume social media and digital information. You can monitor your phone, tablet, or laptop usage and review daily reports. Create digital detox periods where you leave your device in another room to reduce distraction.
3. Begin your day positively
   Avoid grabbing your phone or digital device as soon as you wake up. Create routines that prioritize exercise, mindfulness, and gratitude.
4. Use technology for gratitude
   When used correctly, digital environments can be positive and inspiring. Create an online gratitude journal that captures what you are thankful for. Sending messages of gratitude through digital media can uplift both the sender and the receiver.
5. Follow inspiring individuals and organizations
   Identify and follow pages and individuals that are inspiring or aligned with your values, and use them to balance the negative narrative.
6. Be active and supportive online
   Rather than passively consuming material online, actively engage with encouraging and positive posts and replies. It could mean positively commenting on a friend’s post or offering constructive feedback on ideas put forward by an organization.
7. Observe mindful engagement
   Remain present while reading articles and scrolling, noting your emotional reactions and stepping away as needed to take mindful breaks, for example, when experiencing strong negative emotions.
8. Align media consumption with personal goals
   What do you want to achieve online and offline, and what is important to you? Knowing the answers will inform what and when you consume digital media. Reflect on your experience of the digital environment, and ask, “Is this aligned with my values and personal goals?”
9. Prioritize real connections and offline activities
   While maintaining an online presence can be enjoyable and potentially essential for our work and study commitments, it is important to be active and present outside our digital environment. Prioritize regular catchups with friends, family, and work colleagues to foster strong relationships and community — essential ingredients for sustaining a hopeful digital environment.

In Embracing JOMO: Finding Joy in Missing Out, we explore the importance of unplugging from online life. In addition, we have a short but powerful article on How to Stop Doomscrolling.

How to Help Clients Build a Healthier Media Diet

Digital media is an almost unavoidable aspect of modern life.

When in balance with the rest of our lives, it can offer significant benefits, keeping us connected with those we care about, what inspires us, and essential aspects of our and others’ lives. But it doesn’t control us (Shabahang et al., 2021).

Challenge the “constant consumption to stay informed” mindset

Most of us don’t need to be fully informed about world events all the time. Once recognized and accepted, we can stop constantly checking and monitoring the news. Being informed is not the same as being overwhelmed, which can lead to high anxiety and a strongly negative outlook regarding our own and others’ situations (Shabahang et al., 2021).

Instead, it might be healthier to set aside 20 or 30 minutes once a day to read a reputable website. A practice of waiting and delay can reduce the constant anxiety of following news stories minute by minute and lead to a more hopeful digital environment (Shabahang et al., 2021).

Encourage intentional intake goals

Work with clients to set clear, realistic, and intentional goals for their media intake. For example, reducing online times from three hours a day to one may be realistic. Consider using apps that support gamification, rewarding users for meeting reduced screen time goals.

Our article What Is Goal Setting and How to Do it Well offers advice on the value of setting clear and specific goals, plus how to do so.

Goal setting and value alignment

Goals are most inspiring when they align with our values. Help clients identify and set appropriate targets for a media diet that aligns with their values and supports a flourishing life.

Use our article SMART Goals, HARD Goals, PACT, or OKRs: What Works? to help improve focus and motivation and the likelihood of achieving success using specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound goals.

Helpful Resources From PositivePsychology.com

We have many resources that coaches, therapists, and mental health professionals can use when working with clients to create a more hopeful digital environment.

What Is Hope in Psychology? + 7 Exercises & Worksheets and How to Perform Hope Therapy: 4 Best Techniques offer guidance for mental health professionals working with clients to boost hope in any environment.

Our Emotional Intelligence Masterclass© is a six-module emotional intelligence training program for teaching the required skills to build emotional intelligence and promote deeper, more authentic engagement in any environment.

Our free resources include:

• Expressing Gratitude to Others
  Recognizing others’ kindness and good work is a powerful tool for strengthening relationships.
• Resilience and Change 
  Building psychological capital helps us navigate ongoing change and build resilience in any digital environment.
• Undoing Bad Habits
  Reducing or removing unwanted habits can be encouraged by making them unattractive, difficult, and unsatisfying.

More extensive versions of the following tools are available with a subscription to the Positive Psychology Toolkit©, but they are described briefly below:

• Mindful Moments

Mindfulness can help us form stronger relationships with our positive emotions.

Mindful observation teaches us how to connect with objects and people around us.

• • Take a small object in your hands while sitting comfortably in a chair. Examine it closely.
  • Consider its color, shape, and any patterns on its surface. What are they?
  • Next, feel its texture. Is it smooth, rough, hard, or soft?
  • Take long, slow breaths. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth while paying attention to the object’s smell.
  • Continue to breathe mindfully, describe the object in your mind.
• Boundary Setting in the Digital Age

While avoiding digital devices altogether may be impractical, creating a balanced relationship with them is helpful and healthy.

Here, we consider boundaries with technology:

• • Step one – Reflect on your existing digital habits. How satisfied are you with them? For example, how do they impact your daily routine? Do you prioritize them over meeting with friends?
  • Step two – Set clear boundaries on when and how much you use your phone, laptop, tablet, etc. Plan for a time when you leave them in the other room to create a digitally free space.
  • Step three – Track your success in keeping to those boundaries.
  • Step four – Reflect on how else you could improve your ability to keep them in place.

If you want to cultivate a mindset to envision a better future and take purposeful steps toward it, consider this collection of 17 science-backed cultivating hope exercises. Use them to make a measurable impact in coaching sessions, therapy work, workshops, and group interventions.

A Take-Home Message

Undoubtedly, the digital world will continue to intersect with all aspects of our lives over the coming years.

As mental health professionals, we can support our clients in embracing the opportunities the online environment provides in a positive, life-enhancing way. We can aid them in combining hope, balance, and resilience — qualities necessary to avoid feelings of helplessness and overwhelm (Snyder, 2000; Shabahang et al., 2021).

Our digital space offers unprecedented learning and work opportunities alongside authentic and far-reaching connections with like-minded individuals and organizations.

With clear strategies, practice, and support, anyone can build an empowering and hopeful digital environment that aligns with their values and supports a flourishing life and positive outcomes.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our five positive psychology tools for free.