In 2017, the Pew Research Center conducted a study which found that up to 69% of adults and 81% of teenagers use some form of social media. And in 2022, researchers found that users spend around 2.5 hours on social media everyday.
While the rise in easily accessible technology over the years has certainly contributed to this increase, it still makes me and many others concerned about the number of people at risk of serious effects to their mental and physical health.
In this article, I’d like to discuss the effects of quitting social media, and why it’s important to do so in this day and age.
Social media can provide people with a sense of belonging in communities they may not otherwise have easy access to. However, along with this comes an increased risk of anxiety and depression. Even worse, this also goes beyond just mental health. Researchers have long been aware of the connection between mental and gut health. Because of this, there is strong evidence that social media addiction can have effects on our physical well-being.
For example, there is also plenty of evidence to suggest that blue-light exposure around bedtime can disrupt our natural melatonin production. This can lead to increased insomnia. While many phone manufacturers offer alternatives to this, a different study was conducted that found there is no difference in the hues (such as yellow-light alternatives). Participants were equally as sleep-disturbed.
On the other hand, there is also growing evidence for the effects of quitting social media.
Less Stress
Research has consistently shown that taking a break or quitting social media can significantly reduce stress, particularly those who are excessive users.
Even taking short breaks can be beneficial in reducing stress.
Social media can create a whole world of issues, especially for young teenagers and adults. Long has stood the sentiment that in particular, young women and girls have been affected in the vein of body image. In fact, recent surveys suggest that women may be more affected negatively by social media than men are. But because algorithms continuously promote the things that will get them the most views, so naturally they push out outrageous body standards that no one — not women, men, or anyone in between- can conform to.
On top of that, the need for generating views has often pushed out controversial content that can be distressing for users. Just recently, Meta had to apologize for a “glitch” that caused thousands of users to receive violent video recommendations on their Instagram reels page. Even without these so-called glitches, there has been research into whether or not these social media applications push right-winged content onto young men. That’s not to say I disagree with right-wing politics, but I do really think that people should come to their own ideas naturally. Not through social media algorithms.
(Maybe in the future I will write about this in specific, because young men truly experience an entirely different kind of danger on social media.)
With these in mind, it’s no secret that quitting social media can be good for both your mental health and self-esteem.
More Time For Life
Given that the global average for time spent on social media is about 2 and a half hours per day, it makes total sense that quitting social media gives you your time for life back.
Simple math says over the course of a year, this would give you back about 912 hours, or 38 days. That’s 5 and a half weeks each year that we spend on social media. Even just reducing your usage by an hour each day would give you plenty of time for life.
More time for life arguably also helps improve our physical wellbeing. We subsequently have more time for rest, fitness, fun and time with out families which can all lead to a better, healthier and more fulfilled life.
Improved Cognitive Control
Social media is known to affect our ability to focus on and remember things. There are studies that suggest reducing or quitting social media use can help improve impulse control in younger people.
There is evidence that there is a link between interactions such as receiving a like and dopamine rushes, leading to social media addiction. This has brought about trends like dopamine detoxing, where users go without social media (and other things like sugar) in order to “fix their dopamine levels”. While this is not fully backed by science, there is evidence towards taking extended breaks from social media being beneficial.
What You Can Do, Starting Now:
Now I’m not saying I think that social media will destroy the world. In fact, as much as it has many negatives, it also has quite a few positives. The internet is a very beautiful thing in general. Tons of people rely on some form of social for many different things — from communicating with others to learning new ideas. But we still must remember, everything is better in moderation.
For now, here are a few things you can do to help reduce any negative effects from excessive social media use:
- Set a screen use timer
- Dedicate one day a week to no social media
- Try to follow creators who post insightful content
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