Social media is incredible. It’s something people would have never even fathomed twenty years ago. As a college student who is studying media and its effect on the world around us, I spend a lot of time looking at all the good that social media has done for us, but that doesn’t mean I don’t recognize the good in logging off for a few days. So here are some reasons to log off for a little while:
1. You might get a better night’s sleep.
I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve said that I’m going to go to bed at a certain time and then two hours go by and I’m still laying in bed on my phone.
2. You’ll be less distracted.
Maybe if I would just put my phone down and ignore my social media, I might cut the time it takes for me to do my homework in half. Or maybe reading lengthy pieces for class wouldn’t be so bad if I couldn’t see Twitter notifications popping up on my phone every three minutes. I mean I know I spend more time scrolling through and reading Twitter than I do reading anything for class (which probably isn’t okay).
3. Your self-esteem might improve.
I have the biggest FOMO of anyone I know. I’m always worried I’m missing something fun, so Snapchat is my biggest enemy. Social media makes it possible for people to show ten seconds of their night and make it look like it’s an amazing time, even if it’s really not. Or maybe if I didn’t scroll through my Instagram feed and see pictures of models in bikinis every day, I might realize that you don’t have to be a model to be considered beautiful.
4. You’ll have actual conversations with people in real life.
Nothing is sadder than when you walk into a restaurant and see a group of friends together and all on their phones. You have real people right in front of you that you can make connections with and have fun with!
5. Social media causes your happiness to be dependent on others.
You should never let other people dictate your happiness, but social media makes it really hard to remind yourself of that. People get so concerned with taking the perfect picture, thinking up the perfect caption, and how many likes they get. It doesn’t matter how many likes or favorites or retweets a post gets, it doesn’t change your self worth.