Every so often, there is a celebrity or, ironically, an influencer telling you that the best thing you can do is delete social media. I will admit, I have been slowly reducing the number of social media I own (removing about one per year, such as TikTok, Snapchat, YikYak, etc.) throughout my adult life. Earlier this year, I decided to make a tremendous change.
Failures (Screentime)
Last year, I installed a screentime control app. I actually think this step was beneficial in making me reflect on the apps I was wasting my time on. In addition, whenever I needed to focus, it boosted my productivity. I often found myself opening my phone to research, or check the time, then blindly navigate to Instagram. With the screen time app, if I activated a focus session, it would greyscale apps then prevent me from opening it with a reminder of my focus. However reluctant I am to admit it, after a few months, whenever the block appeared, I would go to my screentime app and simply unlock the app.
So, the screentime app didn’t really work. Which just meant I had to pivot. Failures are the only way we learn, but I knew the app I had installed was one of the best free options. So, I dove into the deep end.
Deleting Social Media
I deleted everything. I deleted Instagram (my unfortunate addiction), and eventually YouTube. Honestly, it feels amazing. I won’t lie and tell you that all my time has become productive. I admit to staring at my phone due to my subconscious trying to find social media to doomscroll, and then I simply put the phone down. I go sit on my balcony; I read a book; or, I simply cuddle my cat. I won’t fabricate a story that all that freed up time has become productive. I still waste time lazing on my couch.
However, it’s easier to do my chores when the dopamine addiction is harder to access. I still have the accounts, deleting those memories was unthinkable. I have many friends who contact me through social media, and this goal was not to eliminate friendships. Currently, I no longer think of using social media. I plan out timeframes to catch up on messages.
Results
Since it has been less than a month, I decided to look at some research. I found one study that actually researched the effects of a 1-week social media detox, reducing the average use of 2 hours to just 30 minutes. They saw reduced levels of depression, anxiety, compared to those who did not do the detox. An extremely important observation was that loneliness levels did not change from before the detox, so it is important to make sure that you have a social network that you can communicate with outside of social media.
There have also been so many studies on the correlation that I found a study that just collected these correlations and the progression of worsening mental health. They found a positive correlation of social media usage and more severe mental health conditions. In simpler terms, this means that the more social media usage a person has, the more likely they have a mental health condition, and the condition is more severe than others in their demographic with a lower social media usage.
I think that anyone who uses social media should try to reduce their usage. The harmful effects that it can cause are horrific, and the sooner that those can be prevented, the better chances the reliance can be cut off. Social media addiction should be treated as one, and not everyone will be able to cut everything off completely. But steps in the right direction can have positive benefits.
