By Lorrine Dodds
As Google defines it, “a social media detox is a conscious limitation of social media use and consumption for a set period of time. Generally, most social media detoxes are 30 days, but some people do seven days or even a year-long social media detox.”
I recently went on an unintentional 7 day cleanse from social media, which taught me I could live without social media but I indeed need it. Yes, it’s addictive and that plays a part but I’m addicted to the interaction, whether that’s online or in person.
Luckily, my friend had an old iPhone5 SE that I could borrow so that I had a phone to hand. Nice gesture but there was no sim which meant I needed WiFi and I had no clue what my passwords were and needed my phone to reset them. I could access my Twitter but I only went scrolling for my horoscope twice - it just wasn’t the same on a laptop.
I kept finding myself clicking on the app just to be faced with the dreaded login screen. On the fourth day I forced myself to delete the app because I was never going to remember the impossible password I set a couple of weeks ago.
Dr. David Greenfield suggests that “the Internet is the world's largest slot machine,” and "the smartphone is the world's smallest slot machine." As a digitalized society we are giving our time, money and effort to these metaphorical slot machines. This leaves us addicted and unable to go more than four hours without our phones before feeling an urge to check, according to Asurion.
The global supporting tech protection company Asurion, conducted a study of 2,000 participants which revealed the average person finds difficulty with going 10 minutes without checking their phone. It was uncovered that 1/10 check their phones every four minutes.
I’ve heard of incidents where people are checking their phones rather than replying to someone trying to hold an in person conversation, I am not like that... unless I really do not want to talk to you. I’m certainly addicted to social media but I’m not one to rather have a scroll than listen and communicate with a human in the flesh.
I remember thinking to myself in the Uber prior to going out that I hadn’t backed up my phone on iCloud for a couple of years and I hadn’t uploaded to my annual Facebook album I created. I should’ve trusted my gut and started backing up my memories. I am lucky enough to continuously use Snapchat therefore some memories have been saved but a lot was lost.
Faith Xue, editorial director for byrdie, pitched an idea to give up Instagram but was postponing until she dropped her phone in Lazy River, Vermont. Similarly to myself, Xue had no choice but to give it up and ended up feeling refreshed. “I didn’t have to check my story views to see if my ex and a slew of other random people I hadn’t talked to in months had watched. Instead, I was 100 percent present.”
Xue claims, “Instagram offers a voyeuristic view in to the lives of people who, at least on the surface, appear happier, prettier, and richer than you.” Furthermore, Ignite Teen Treatment discusses how “we may not realize the grass truly isn’t greener on the other side, but it’s certainly easy to be convinced otherwise.” Anything and everything can be prompted, propped, filtered and edited on social media.
I conducted a poll on Instagram that gave me insight into how some of my followers act. I uncovered that 68% of respondents spend more than an hour a day on Instagram. I already had my screen time for Instagram limited to an hour a day. Sometimes I’d go over this and ignore the warnings that I’ve exceeded my daily limit. Since having my phone back I’ve spent under 30 minutes a day on the app... unintentionally.
I was curious if anyone else had set these limits, shockingly only 10% had. These limits are necessary to let you track how much time you’re spending on each app. Clinical psychologist Lindsay Tulchin suggests to set timed social media sessions in order to, “get it all out there. Get bored of it. Then, any other time you have the urge to go on social media, say to yourself: this can wait until my next session.’”
My Instagram poll also showed that 56% still compare themselves to people they see on social media. I never intentionally compare myself to other people but it does happen. I unfollowed many clothing brands and influencers because I was seeing falsified imagery of women filling up my feed rather than seeing my friends living their lives.
Don’t forget that you are ultimately in control of your social media, do not let yourself see things that make you feel like you’re less of yourself. Do not get into the vicious cycle of letting your self-esteem suffer for a couple of scrolls. Remove anyone that is making you feel anything but content whilst on social media.
My social media detox was certainly unintentional but necessary. Lindsey Lanquist uncovered how a couple of experts concluded that social media has both good and bad and no one should force themselves into a detox if not necessary. I never realized how boring social media was, until I got back my apps and accounts and didn’t see any life changing messages or announcements.
Comments