Which social media is bad for you?
Not all social media apps are horrible for mental health. In fact, one could argue that social media is good, if used in moderation. And with the right mindset. Which is pretty difficult.
The kinds of social media that are bad for you are the ones that push insane standards onto you. These crazy standards maybe standards of beauty, or of what people your age are supposed to be doing or making (their salary.) If social media is making you feel bad about yourself, then it’s bad.
Social media that promotes comparison between you and someone who seems absolutely PERFECT, needs to be removed from your system.
Before anyone comes at me for having a blog and saying that blogging is social media, I hope I have cleared that. When I mean social media, I mean Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Steps to Quitting Social Media
Here are a few steps you need to consider taking while you think of quitting social media. Sure, you can go cold turkey, but having a strong intention is important.
Think about the detriments of social media
I’m going to be honest with you – intention matters a lot when it comes to quitting social media. If you are quitting social media because you are ghosting some dude, then you’re probably not in it for the long run.
Think about why you are quitting. Is it because:
- It promotes superficial ideals about the human body?
- It’s toxic for self esteem and confidence?
- It causes depression due to comparing our lives with others?
Sit down and really think about the reason you want to quit social media. Think about how social media has messed up the last 5 years of your life. When you finally feel your mind agreeing on how you should quit social media, that’s when you will really go through with it.
Limit social media time
We can’t all go cold turkey and drop social media. The social media, that we have been addicted to for the past 5 years? In fact, I’m being modest. I’ve probably been addicted to it since I was 15. I know there are people younger than 15 that are absolutely crack-hooked to it.
So, limit your social media time to 3 times a day. It sounds simple enough, but a lot of people can’t manage being away for that long. Select different times of the day to get on social media. Limit your time usage to 30 minutes or so. Yeah, I know 30 minutes sounds a lot but trust me when I say you go on it for 4 hours straight.
Delete the social media apps
Deleting the app off your phone is not the same as deleting your social media account. Your memories will stay there, in case that’s what is stopping you.
Some people literally can’t handle deleting their social media apps and will reinstall them as soon as they can. That is why it is important to wean yourself off it, as per the previous point.
Turn off notifications
This is my personal secret to completely weaning myself off Instagram. The thing about Instagram is that we love the notifications. We are hooked to them. We want to see who liked our posts, or who viewed our stories.
The notifications are what get us. Instagram notifications are designed to imitate a game-like feel to produce a rush of serotonin into our brains. That little red heart? It’s hijacking your brain so you can look forward to it more and more. That is why I turned off my notifications.
If your intention is simply to share your memories, you literally shouldn’t care about how many likes you get! It’s just insane if you think about it.
Replace social media apps
There are social media apps that really cause mental harm to us (Instagram). And then, there are those that don’t feed on your need for validation through likes or comments. One great example is Pinterest. Pinterest is just a place for ideas. You can read helpful posts and enjoy visual representations of the things you actually like, filtered to your interests. Consider replacing harmful apps with less harmful ones. Reddit is also a good example because you don’t get a lot of self-esteem issues from comparing yourself with others. Besides, Reddit is pretty anonymous.
Focus on something that interests you
In order to quit social media, you need things to fill the gaping hole that social media will leave behind.
I remember missing chunks of memory and time while scrolling through Instagram. It’s a deep pit and a lot of people are addicted to it. A lot of social media apps don’t really have informational content for the average user. It’s all about the entertainment.
When you quit social media, you are going to have a LOT of free time. And you need to have some productive activities on hand to beat back the urge to go back on social media. Figure out the things that truly interest you, and practice them before you quit.
This next section provides some inspiration for what you can take up after quitting social media.
Productive Hobbies to Replace Social Media
Here are some examples of activities you can consider before you quit social media. Explore and experiment and try to get over that constant excitement that social media gave you before. Because most of these activities don’t have a lot of instant gratification in the form of validation from strangers.
Reading + Learning
This is among the best hobbies you can pursue after quitting social media. Engage in reading books, whether fiction, or non-fiction. You can choose to buy books from a bookstore, or from online bookstores. Either way, reading is an engaging activity to fill up the space left by social media. Reading is extremely fulfilling, and there are so many topics out there that even a person who hates reading can find a genre to enjoy reading.
In addition to reading, I recommend looking into learning a new skill of some sort. There are amazing sites that provide courses to teach all sorts of skills. One example is SKILLSHARE. Here you can learn from experts on many different topics. You can also teach yourself things from e-books online.
Writing
Writing is another hobby you can adopt before quitting social media. You can choose to write on topics you have knowledge about. Or, you can write fiction and post it online.
That’s not all. You can choose to start journaling in-depth about your life and thoughts. I love journaling, and I can spend ages just talking about the kind of person I am. Journaling is a form of meditation. It’s a form of self introspection. It’s a way of finding answers within yourself.
Watching documentaries
If you’re more of a visual person, I’d suggest looking into watching documentaries. I like to watch animal documentaries before bed. There are so many categories when it comes to documentaries. keep exploring and experimenting so you can find out what interests you the most. This way, you get to learn about different things while being entertained.
In addition to documentaries, you can try investing in a new TV show. I love to watch sitcoms and among my favorites are Community and Superstore. Once again, don’t give up on TV without exploring enough.
Yoga or exercise
I know, I know. Who wants to work out in their free time? Well, maybe you have changed as a person and you might like the way exercise makes you feel!
Gone are the days I would wake up and stick my eyeballs to a phone-screen in order to get my daily dose of self-esteem crushing juice. These days, I don’t get on my phone until 1pm!
The first thing I do when I wake up is do yoga. I make sure to stretch all my muscles in order to get my energies flowing through my body. After that, I engage in a little under an hour of different workout videos on youtube. Exercise is a very productive hobby that can chip away at social media time.
Other hobbies
There are so many activities you can do after quitting social media. Think about knitting, or crochet, but with a podcast on while you work. There are tons of ideas for productive hobbies to take up time when you are not on social media.
You might want to take up daily walks, or peacefully watching the sunset. Consider spending more time in peace and quiet; just basking in the experience of being you. Meditation is a great way to manage your emotions and to understand yourself on a deeper level.
Please consider leaving your thoughts on how social media has impacted your life and if you would take the big leap to quit social media once and for all. I hope this post will be helpful for you to think about your social media usage, and maybe even quit social media.
Additional Helpful Posts:
- Why I Quit Social Media and What I Do Instead
- The Good Side of Social Media that We Need to Talk About
- Why I Hate Social Media
Leave a Comment!