Like most college students, I use social media all the time. There are endless easy ways for me to get distracted on these apps, from scrolling through TikTok to watching stories on Instagram. I feel like my screen time has been at an all-time high, especially after the summer, when I had so much time to just lounge around on my phone.
With midterms coming up and stressing me out, I decided I wanted to stop using social media for a week. At first, it seemed like a crazy undertaking, but it turned out to be a very positive experience!
Before I start, I want to define what I classify as social media. To me, social media is any app where I have an account, interact with other users, and share my own content. I didn’t include video-watching apps such as YouTube and Netflix (even though I know YouTube is technically social media) because I don’t use those apps nearly as often. My main goal was to cut out apps that are very distracting for me – Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and Facebook.
At the beginning of this whole experience, I found that I would instinctively click on many of my social media apps without meaning to. For instance, after unlocking my phone, I would click on TikTok almost immediately because my brain was so used to doing so. Then I would quickly close it after remembering my goal for the week. Honestly, this was kind of scary because I didn’t realize how conditioned my mind was to opening these apps whenever I was on my phone.
After getting through the small hurdle of immediately instinctively opening social media apps, I found I had a lot more time than I thought I did. Even though I typically get distracted in small bursts of time, those short periods definitely add up. By not using social media, I found that I had more time for studying, journaling, or just doing other things I liked. For example, I had always put off reading because I didn’t think I had the time, but I was able to start re-reading the Percy Jackson series during the week! Perhaps I’ve always had the time, but I just didn’t want to put my phone down.
My biggest takeaway was that I didn’t feel any significant loss by removing social media from my life. This might not seem like that big of a deal, but for someone who thought that she was addicted to being online, it really was.
I want to make it very clear that I don’t hate social media. This article does seem to paint it in a negative light, but I do think it can be really fun! I love connecting with people and getting to see positive trends/stories online. I think it’s so cool that we can interact with people from all around the world and view other peoples’ creativity. However, I do think that most of us use it too much for our own good, and sometimes, taking a little break is exactly what we need.
In terms of the future, I’ve already become a lot less attached to my social media accounts, so I hope to use them less. Obviously, I still want to go on TikTok once in a while, but I’ve realized I don’t need to look at it as soon as I get out of bed every morning.
To anyone who’s thinking of doing this “challenge,” I encourage you to try it! Even if it’s not cutting out ALL social media, it’s always good to try and use your phone a bit less so you can be more present. Go outside, read a book, hang out with your family and friends, or bake some fall-themed treats! I promise that it’s easier than you think, and you’ll feel a lot better after.