We have all heard by now of the different ways in which we can perform a detox to get rid of the toxins lurking in our system; this can be done by doing juice cleanses, avoiding certain categories of food, and so on. Although these have positive effects of on our physical health, have you ever considered doing a social media detox to benefit your mental health?
We are all victims of mindless scrolling on social media apps – opening up our apps right after closing them to see if we missed anything, refreshing our pages to see what comes up next and constantly keeping up with what our friends are doing. Have you ever taken a step back and realized the attachment you have to your phone and your social media apps, or maybe even realized you pick up your phone for no real reason other than it being a habit?
We seem to have a continuous need to keep up to date with what we deem to be relevant information found online, however it it further disconnects us from reality. With the constant need to update and be updated, we sense the need to share every moment of our days. It has been said that “if you’re living everything through the lens of social media instead of directly interacting with it, your experiences will be of lower quality and become less memorable”. We become so focused on the idea of sharing moments, that we forget to live in the present and be grateful for what we’re experiencing.
Social media can also potentially cause harm to existing friendships and relationships that you have. With wanting to share every moment we consider funny or exciting whether it be about what we’re doing or the people we’re with, we don’t necessarily think of the repercussions. Medical News Today explains that “links and quotes shared out of context, or misplaced jokes can all be doubly damaging in a medium that encourages quick sharing and rushed reading”. We went from sharing news directly with our friends in person or via phone call, to instead making it public for followers and strangers to view. This is both a lack of privacy for those we are exposing to the world, and a lack of transparency due to the lack of explanation that is attached to it.
With all of that being said, these so called “first world problems” could all be avoided if we simply lived in the present moment and refrained from constantly going on these apps. Unfortunately, that is much easier said than done considering we now check our phones first thing when we wake up everyday as if it’s the morning paper. They are a growing addiction that are becoming detrimental to our health; as technology evolves, we will need to evolve with it to learn how to better manage our screen time and ensure we remain present in the real world and not only in the virtual world.
If someone challenged you to a social media detox and you were asked to delete your apps temporarily, would you be able to successfully stay away from them?
Facebook: Have you ever taken a second to consider how social media is negatively affecting you? Read this blog post to find out more, and to discover whether or not you could benefit from a social media detox.
Twitter: #socialmediadetox… ever heard of it? Read about the negative effects of social media and see if temporarily deleting your social media apps would be right for you.
Algonquin College Social Media Certificate Program 
With social media being a large part of my job I really try to monitor my personal time on social media when not working, especially on my days off. I have actually found that the activity monitoring tool that Instagram has, has really helped me with limiting my time on social media. The daily time limit is nice but I like the reminder to take breaks feature the most. It is so easy to sit down to look at the app for a couple minutes and the next thing you know it is a hour later. Having the reminder at 30 minutes to watch how long you have been on the app has been a great tool in watch my time on social media. With how much screen time many of us have due to our job I think it is more important than ever to watch how much time you are on your phone or other devices when away from work.
Great post! Social media detoxes are very important. From time to time when I feel overwhelmed by social media log out of my personal accounts and delete the apps that I don’t need for work for a week to give myself a mental vacation from the space they take up in my head (and on my phone). I also find that the time monitoring tools on social media apps are helpful to remind me I need to step away from them for some mental space.