I used to be in a toxic relationship with social media.
Until last year, when TikTok was temporarily banned, and I deleted the app to completely cut myself off from it. Since then, I have gone from spending four hours a day scrolling on social media to less than two hours a week, mostly consisting of replying to videos that were sent to me and sourcing content for my internships.
So, I guess now we’re in a bit of an off-and-on situationship, but I’m the one in control.
I truly felt like my phone was taking over my life, and I was wasting so much time on something that ultimately made me feel bad about myself, both for spending a gross amount of time online and being fed a constant stream of materialistic content.
Without even thinking about it, I would take any free, awkward moment of time to open up Instagram or TikTok and swipe. Consequently, it would take me longer to do my schoolwork, struggling to read a paper for class without finding solace in my phone at least twice within a single 8-page reading.
Overall, social media was draining me and my time, and I needed to make a change. Giving up social media may seem unrealistic or simply unattainable. Before I deleted social apps from my phone, I could never picture a version of myself that wouldn’t spend almost 30 hours a week online.
Well, I have finally reached a point where I feel like I can responsibly and healthily use social media without overindulging. It took a lot of time, but there were really some key steps that helped me get here.
Deleted apps from my phone
The easiest way to stop using something is to get rid of it. I mentioned this earlier, but the very first thing I did was delete TikTok and Instagram from all of my devices. This removed my opportunity to open the apps whenever I wanted.
I kept TikTok deleted for about two months, and didn’t find myself missing it much. Eventually, I re-dowloaded it onto my iPad, which still limited my access to it.
To get control of my relationship to my phone in general, the only “fun” apps I have right now are Duolingo, New York Times Games, and Yahtzee. Nothing that demands my attention the way that social apps do.
Set clear boundaries
Taking a social media detox set my up for success, so by the time I redownloaded the apps onto my secondary device, I no longer craved to scroll.
Of course, as a communications student, a lot of my classwork and internships require me to be tapped into social media trends or use social media to source influencers. So, I set clear boundaries for how I could use social media both for work and recreationally.
For the first few months, I only allowed myself to open up my iPad in bed or in the living room after 9 p.m., and even then, I only found myself on TikTok at most twice a week for much shorter bouts than before.
When logging on to complete a project, I didn’t have a hard time stopping myself from doomscrolling. I surprisingly found that I didn’t have the urge to scroll, but I still stop myself from watching full videos and go to certain accounts or look up topics to have more control.
Got Busy
If I can spend 25 hours a week on social media, I certainly have time for internships. And once you have a full schedule, there really isn’t that much time for “junk time” spent on social media.
Instead, I use my free time to talk to my friends and occasionally watch something.
Switch to long-form content
I am the type of person who starts a TV show and cannot put my iPad down until I finish a season, so watching TV felt counterproductive. Instead, I turned back to my YouTube roots whenever I felt like I wanted to watch something.
I am a dedicated YouTube kid. My roommates will often find me watching YouTube videos on the TV or at the table, fully captivated.
From teen mom storytimes and thoughtful video essays to chaotic days in the life and monthly resets, I enjoy some good old-fashioned long-form videos. YouTube videos like this serve up the same style of content that I would binge on TikTok, but in a more thoughtful, less overstimulating way.
You’ll also find that some of your favorite influencers have YouTube channels, so you can still get the content you love, but in a more attention-span-friendly format.
Tell other people
Yes, I was that obnoxious person mentioning how I was giving up social media, but there are 2 benefits I found about telling other people about my habit shift.
The first perk of telling others that you’re off doomscrolling is the accountability aspect. If I tell my sister I deleted TikTok but then send her a TikTok, I will feel instant shame and guilt for backing out of my goal. So, I use good-old social and self-shaming to keep me in check.
The second benefit is based on the reaction I typically got when I said that I deleted TikTok and Instagram. Most times, I was met with “Oh! I wish I could do that!”, often citing the issues that their usage of the app has had on them.
This reaction really highlights the negative aspects of social media use and the power that it has over Gen Z, providing further motivation to break up with it for good.