Step Back From Your Socials

In our day-to-day lives, social media takes a toll. We wake up with our phones by our side and go to sleep with our phones in our hands. It’s what we look at for hours and hours. Teens live all over social media, whether it’s real or not. Ages fifteen through twenty- four spend an average of five hours on social media, doing what though? Scrolling through tik tok videos, observing others’ lives on Instagram. As a result, it leads to a screen time of around nine hours a day for the Gen-Z generation. Seems a bit excessive, but many do it. Junior Sally Mansary quotes “When I’m on social media I tend to lose hours of sleep and parts of my day due to mindless scrolling.” She stated how her school work and social relationships are bruised due to time spent on social media causing her to feel moody. As seen, a handful of negative outcomes come with spending so much time on our phones and social media. Sophomore Trinity Perry explained, “I use social media to connect with friends and to one day use it as a helping platform for my success.” We may use it for socializing and connecting with those around us. Although, when you take too much time on it can easily lead to comparing lives or feeling lonely. What we see in the media can easily get into our heads, and contribute to mental health issues such as anxiety or depression. Such mental health issues tie into many factors when spending time on social media, like cyberbullying. Nearly half of American teenagers ages 13 to 17 (46%) have experienced cyberbullying.  

So why not completely disconnect from social media? You’ve heard of a social media detox, a voluntary attempt at reducing or stopping social media use to improve well-being. I am currently taking part in the detox and it feels good. Senior Anela Nanduhura remarked, “Without social media, you become more confident in yourself because you’re not always comparing yourself to others.” You have more free time and are more socially engaged in your surroundings. Waking up and feeling the need to open Snapchat got tiring. Spending my days off laying in bed scrolling on Instagram instead of being active was draining. So I took it upon myself to delete all my social media platforms. Honestly, I get more done in a day, with my phone having none of the apps I’m on a daily I perform acts that I wouldn’t usually do. I’m now reading a book, spending more time being physically active, and cleaning when needed. I feel more productive than ever without my social media having me glued to my phone. If you’re not convinced enough, take in mind that you could gain more sleep and personal growth without other lives being in your face all day. Some may argue that social media doesn’t stop them from using their time wisely and balancing their phone usage and actual lifestyle. Taking a break is always needed, it’s good for you to be refreshed and renewed from time to time. Whether you have social media or not make sure to take care of yourself and your mind.