Many people are plagued by social media’s addictive effects. I never subscribed to TikTok, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Tinder, Hinge—I could go on, but you get the idea. My bread and butter was Instagram!
By October of 2023, I was spending 20 hours a week on my phone and averaging 3 hours a day on Instagram. That month, I decided to permanently delete my Instagram account.
I will be the first to admit, I kept Pinterest throughout this process because I enjoy putting together outfit boards and spend considerably less time on the app than Instagram. I’m not preaching an “all or nothing” mindset by any means.
Instagram was making me unhappy and it needed to go.
| My symptoms of burnout due to Instagram usage: |
| – Falling down rabbit holes of political agendas of hyper-feminine & hyper-masculine posts |
| – Feeling lethargic in the morning ~ Dips in dopamine levels |
| – Decreased desire to move my body (as an athletic girl, this was out of character) |
| – Lack of motivation after viewing content ~ translated into coursework too |
| – Lack of real-looking people ~ shift in perception of beauty to unrealistic & unattainable standards |
| – Decreased confidence about my appearance |
I have always been the analytical, scientific method girlie. I documented my experience overtime to get an accurate depiction of the effects that occurred after deleting my insta. Aka a mini-case study.
And here is what I noticed.
| PROS | CONS |
| – Increases motivation to do activities – My time is my own – No more political agendas – I see real people and compare myself less – txt became more meaningful |
– Doesn’t mean I enjoy school more, but it gets done – I enjoy doing dumb sh*t and nobody knowing about it – My pop culture is low but I am happy – Confidence boosted – the urge to be “in the know” on events |
Deleting social media will not magically make all your problems go away, but it will help give you a fighting chance of being in the real world. Most of us would rather not be in the real world, hence, virtual realities. But, I think it’s worth taking the bet on yourself to get back to your authentic self.
