Social Media Detox for a Month!
Millennials these days spend more than 4 to 5 hours on their smartphone every day. A majority of that time is spent on social media. Few questions covered my mind: What benefits could you receive from stepping down for a while from social media? Would you be more productive and focused? or In what ways might your life change? So I decided to quit social media for a month to find out.
Here is what I experienced
The first few days were the most challenging. I was so sure that without taking extreme measures I would get back to my old routine and check my phone frequently throughout the day. So I deleted all my social media apps from my phone and laptop to build up some friction. Soon I realised that it wasn’t the content that I was addicted to. It wasn’t likes, friend requests or DM’s. It was the expectation of what could be. Maybe someone would have sent me a follow request or maybe someone tweeted at me. So I knew I had to maintain some distance for a while. I committed to leaving my phone in the other room while I was working and whenever possible I kept it at home while I left the house. After a week, I stopped flinching for my phone and it no longer felt weird to leave home without it. There are a number of reasons why one might consider quitting social media. The side effects are a little bit different for each one of us. Some people find that apps like Instagram put them into a COMPARISON MODE by constantly keeping an eye on what other people have, you instinctively want it as well. While others are addicted to the FEEDBACK and ATTENTION.
One study showed that many millennials were elected to receive negative simulation over no simulation. 
What is the reason for this? Your phone can make you feel connected, less alone and tries to fill the void in your mind and because of that, it’s a massive time killer and productivity hinder.
But was that just me rationalizing my addiction? Did I actually think that by stepping completely away from social media my entire life would fall apart? But here is what ended up happening. After a few days, I lost my drive to check on my social media accounts and stopped thinking about it any more. Sometimes I grabbed my phone without even thinking, unlock it and start to swipe through the screens looking for something to preoccupy my mind. Then I suddenly realized that I had deleted all my social apps.
A lot of time we think we just simply don’t have enough time to do it. In fact, maybe it’s our priorities that aren’t really in check. Maybe we need to think about where we’re spending our time to begin with, like social media. Once you start to identify the things that you value in your life you start to get rid of those distractions. For me, it’s social media. Another lesson, There is a sense of clarity that you get when you take a step away from the compulsive checking. For some reason we have convinced ourselves that it is important and there is FOMO(Fear Of Missing Out) in each one of us. But once I got connected again, I kind of realized one simple truth. I did not miss a thing.
Recently I watched a documentary on Netflix called “The Social Dilemma” that quotes -
“THE TECHNOLOGY THAT CONNECTS US ALSO CONTROLS US”.
Final Verdict
Social Media has the potential to control our thoughts and it is eradicating intellectual individualism from each one of us.
After a month of social media detoxification I am not so sure I want to spend my time and energy on social media apps anymore.
ALWAYS REMEMBER!
EVERYTHING COMES WITH A PRICE. It’s all about money. These applications are build to engage users on their app. There is an entire team of engineers whose job is to use your psychology againt you. There is a famous saying -
“If you are not paying for the product, you are the product!”.
Aadesh Mirajkar
Avid Learner | Technophile | Introvert