Did you know that drinking too much water can kill you?
According to the American Chemistry Society 6L of water can kill a 165 lb person (and apparently death by water consumption happens more often than you’d expect). This phenomenon can be summed up shortly with, “The dose makes the poison.” This quote is credited to the European alchemist Paracelsus, and comes from the principle that all chemicals at some point become toxic.
If only I had known this a couple years ago when I was slowly poisoning myself with several hours worth of Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Turns out social media was killing me.
What Was Happening?
There has been a huge surge in the number of studies done on the harmful effects of social media, especially on the teenage brain. Teenagers are becoming less social, less driven, and less empathetic. Even more alarming, teenagers today are more anxious and more depressed than in any other point in history. Don’t just take my word for it – I encourage you to research these studies if you haven’t already. This research, however, is not simply facts and statistics on a chart. I could see the consequences of social media in my own day to day life.
Social media is supposed to keep you connected with friends and family, yet I only felt more disconnected. I would hang out with a group of people and every single person sat in silence on their phone. There was no communication, except when it was time to take a cute picture for Instagram to make it look like we were all having a good time.
I also felt this immense pressure to keep all my social media pages up to date. I had to have a good ratio of followers to following. I needed a good mix of selfies and group photos, along with a few pictures of food that may or may not have tasted good. I was obsessed with making myself look like I was happy, cool, and fun even in moments of extreme pain and grief. I had an image to keep, and I did everything in my power to maintain this image.
The worst part of it all was the jealousy I felt towards anyone and everyone who seemed to be having a better time than me. When someone would post a video on their Snapchat story at a party I wasn’t invited to, a pool of dread would fill my stomach and sit there for days. I would stare at selfies of beautiful girls and think, “I will never be as pretty or confident as these girls.”
What Changed?
The day I decided to delete all my social media changed everything. I found myself in a state of complete and utter relaxation. All the sudden I had time to do things I previously thought I had no room in my schedule for. I could read for enjoyment, catch up on Grey’s Anatomy, and go to church. I was also procrastinating less and finishing homework quicker than ever.
And the biggest shocker – my relationships improved! I was no longer caught up in the senseless drama that comes from “subtweeting” and Finsta/Sinta posting. You know the saying “ignorance is bliss”? While this isn’t always true, it definitely is when it comes to things like “who has beef with who.”
Why I got it Back?
When I went off to college I realized I was missing out on some great opportunities. I was oblivious to different activities and events hosted on my campus because everyone was communicating through the apps like GroupMe and Facebook. I was unaware of all the amazing adventures my friends from back home were on, and I had a hard time staying in the loop with how they were doing. This is when I decided I needed to rejoin the virtual world – but differently this time.
This time, instead of following 800 people that “I know, but don’t really know,” I would only follow close friends/family, University of Kansas related pages, and a few of my favorite celebrities. I also limited which social media sites I was on. I personally feel Twitter and Facebook are still clouded with too much fake news stories and unnecessary drama. Instead, I rejoined the world of Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat. The biggest change I made was limiting the amount of time I spent on social media – an hour or less a day!
What is Different Now?
I learned through my social media detox that moderation is key. When you find balance (and this applies to all aspects of your life – work, exercise, diet), you can enjoy the things you want to without feeling guilty. Social media is a wonderful tool when used correctly. It can help you keep in touch with people you otherwise couldn’t, stay updated on current events, and allow you to share your opinions/ideas with people you care about.
It wasn’t social media itself that was killing me – it was the absurd amount of time I spent on it. It was when I created a happy medium between my physical world and my virtual world that I found true contentment.