If you're reading this, you probably stumbled across my article while you were aimlessly browsing through Facebook. Maybe you're dying of boredom from your professor's lecture, so you decided to find an activity more entertaining. Maybe you're waiting for your friend to respond to your text regarding the plans for later tonight. Or maybe you're awkardly looking down at your phone to avoid making eye contact and starting a conversation. Whatever the reason may be, I'm glad you came across my article. Now that I have your attention, I would like to help you find the right path from your aimlessly wandering. I want to show you how to streamline your social media use, and why detoxing from social media can have astounding effects on your well being.
You've probably heard that one older and less technology-savy person who vehemently assails you for your constant cellphone use. "You young kids are always on your phone," or, "Can you go five minutes without texting?" are probably amongst the most common phrases thrown out to you. However, what most older people fail to relalize is the beneficial reasons as to why we are "obsessed" with social media.
For starters, social media has given young people a platform to freely express themselves. Just as the clothes you wear helps to reveal your identity, the pictures and statuses you post on social media illuminates your personality. For any young individual, finding your true identity is an ongoing task. Your interests, aspirations, and perspectives on life are subjected to continuous fluctuation. Therefore, finding a means to release these many facets of your life can be extremely therapeutic.
Secondly, social media has the ability to connect like-minded individuals into a coherent digital realm. Have you ever stumbled upon a tweet, page, or article that completely resonants with you? Such "hidden gems," as I like to call them, are another reason why younger individuals are glued to their phone. Again, in the time of your life when you're coming into your identity, seeing that someone else shares similar viewpoints as you can give you great reassurance.
Unfortunately, amidst these positive benefits of social media are lurking several other factors that threaten these rewards. I like to refer to these negative aspects as "digital clutter." I have often temporarily deleted my Snapchat, Facebook, or Instagram apps in order to reduce such clutter. When I tell people of my decision to delete such apps, I am either confronted with utter confusion or wilful acceptance. We encounter this digital clutter when we are aimlessly wandering on social media. When we're bored and don't have anything else to do, we subject ourselves to watching that five-minute Snapchat story of that girl singing along to her favorite song, or we go on Instagram to get lost in the maze of selfies. Obviously, being bombarded with such images is doing nothing for the progression of our lives. We know this, yet we are still finding ourselves glued to the screen. Why? Because we are scared to be alone with our thoughts. What if instead of trying to escape from our boredom, we embrace it and dig deep to figure out why we aren't feeling entertained at the moment?
So, if you're still reading this? Put down your phone for a minute. Temporarily get rid of your apps for a day or so. You have nothing to be scared of. The millions of pictures of food and relationship notifications via Facebook will still be there for you when you decide to re-download these apps. However, the new experiences you can be making in life won't wait for you to put your phone down.
