Social media has devoured us. It’s insane how much I’ve found out I rely on social media. For my Intro to psychology class, we were told to pick a mental health issue, and me and my partner picked anxiety and how social media correlates with it. We added an experiment part to it where we record our social media screen time for a week, and then half it the next week using a screen time limit. Today would be Day 5 in the experiment, and I’ve been overriding my screen time limit every single day. I think it’s because I keep waiting on a text and waiting to see if I’m missing out on anything and it’s kind of insane how much I would check and nothing would be there. It’s teaching me that it’s okay to miss out on things, and it’s okay to be burnt out and need a break. Every month taking maybe a few days off social media doesn’t hurt anyone. Taking those days off, is a way of taking caring of yourself. It’s not like the world moves on and you don’t. Because you move on when you move on, not when someone else says to. And even if you are addicted like I am, maybe just be more aware, and live in reality, not the virtual reality.
If you want to watch something related to this watch “the social dilemma” on Netflix, it talks about big technology experts sharing how the tech industry has programmed each of their social media apps to keep us always checking and going back. If you want to watch the impacts of social media on mental health, watch Bailey Parnell’s Tedtalk: “Is social media hurting your mental health.”
(both photos taken from instagram; credits are listed underneath the photo).