It’s the end of a long day. You’ve been studying, working, socializing all day, and now you just want to kick back and relax. You’re at home, and you curl up on the couch with your favorite comfort food and pull out your phone. You open up Instagram, TikTok or Facebook and scroll through updates from friends, content creators, influencers, news and media. Before you know it, you’ve spent an hour aimlessly scrolling.
How do you usually feel by this point?
Maybe you feel happy because you saw that someone in your social circle is enjoying herself at the beach. Maybe you feel envious because — let’s face it — someone in your social circle is enjoying herself at the beach. Maybe you feel more “in the know” and updated on the latest news and trends. Maybe you feel relaxed; you’ve been using your brain all day, and it feels good to chill out and do something that isn’t mentally draining.
But, after enough time of just scrolling on social media, I think that we’re starting to trick ourselves. We think it’s making us feel good, keeping us updated on the news and trends, and connecting us with our friends. But eventually, our phones can become a digital crutch and a digital comfort zone.
But, when we’re on our phones, we don’t get a deep, face-to-face interaction with others. We control who we follow and read, but we’re not challenging ourselves to consider diverse opinions or perspectives. We trick ourselves into thinking that life is the sum of the images we post.
Don’t get me wrong; I love my fair dose of social media just like anyone else! But when I think back on the moments, the memories, the times that have really mattered in life, none of them have been moments where I was staring at my screen. They were times that I had personal, difficult and even challenging conversations with others. They were times when I had to push myself to try something new in real life, outside the digital comfort zone of social media. They were times when I truly lived in the moment without worrying about how the photos would turn out.
Sometimes our phones and social media feeds become a digital box we put ourselves in. What are some ways you can break out of the digital box of social media? Instead of scrolling through an old friend’s Facebook feed, why not give them a text or DM and see if you can meet up with them for coffee? Instead of following influencers using the same trends and hashtags, why not deliberately search for creators from diverse backgrounds to gain a new perspective? Instead of keeping your story and feed updated, why not take a break for a few hours and really be present in your own life?
My challenge for anyone reading this is to think outside the social media box and try something new in their lives!
Social media isn’t going anywhere, but I think we should challenge the content it feeds us. How is your social media usage impacting you? Is it growing you and helping you connect with other people? Or is it boxing you in and limiting your presence in your own life? Your social media accounts should serve you, not the other way around. You don’t have to completely get rid of social media or un-download Instagram to change how you use these platforms!
So, on that note, I think I’m going to wrap up this article and go unfollow some accounts that clog my feed up with posts that don’t bring me joy. And see if I can set up a coffee date with friends I haven’t seen in a while!