A few days into my current social media cutback, a notification flashed on my phone announcing that my screen time was down by 16 percent. I’m hoping next week will show an even further decline, as I continue to curb my mindless scrolling.
I’ve written about my complicated relationship with social media before, and this probably won’t be the last time. Here are a few ways that my social media consumption is getting under my skin lately:
- For me, social media provides ongoing evidence that “comparison is the thief of joy” (a quote attributed to Teddy Roosevelt.) As I scroll through Facebook and other platforms, I feel as if I’m not doing enough in my life and I’m not posting enough online. How do these folks do so much every day and have the time to write about it? I must be doing something wrong, or maybe I’m just plain lazy.
- On Instagram, I can’t help but watch many of the “suggested reels” the platform serves up. Somehow, Instagram knows that I am a sucker for watching videos of supermodels walking in fashion shows, before/after shots of women with and without makeup, and celebrity cosmetic surgery transformations. (I can’t believe I am telling you this.) Why am I mesmerized by this stuff?
- I’ve started feeling more than a bit disturbed about the path we are headed down, where more and more of our lives’ moments are photographed and posted online. I’m guilty of this, too, and I worry about the long-term effects of living with this camera and potential audience in our mind. How will this behavior affect us long-term as individuals and our society as a whole? (I may have to do a whole other post about how when I searched for an image to go with this piece, only women were shown taking selfies.)
- As a self-published author with a book to promote, I fear that I’m not using my social media accounts in the most effective way. I stopped posting on TikTok because I kept hearing that authors need to post three or more times a day, and there’s no way I’m going to make that happen. But then I’m also concerned that the time I spend on social media is distracting me from finishing my second book. Is there any way to get this balance right?
I still believe there is much to be gained from interacting with social media. It allows me to stay in contact with people from my past and even my present who I rarely (if ever) see in person. Over the past year and a half, I’ve used social media to learn how to self-publish my memoir, and in the process, I’ve met other authors from around the world. I’ve even done podcast interviews with shows produced in the UK and South Africa.
When utilized as a tool, social media works for me. But when used as a form of endless entertainment or as a way to avoid doing the next thing on my To-Do list, it leaves me feeling empty and anxious. It is a ruthless time killer and soul suck.
So here I am, yet again, taking some time off from social media. For the month of December, I’m trying to significantly reduce the number of times I pick up my phone just to see what folks are posting. I may visit specific accounts in an intentional way to gain information, but the scroll, scroll, scroll is on the back burner. I’ve found that I like posting in my stories every day, but I’m going to experiment with sharing mostly original content instead of posts I’ve found through scrolling.
Then, in January and February, I’m going to buckle down and finish my second book. During that period, I’ll limit my social media time to posting updates about this forthcoming book and whatever else feels critical.
Every time I do one of these cleanses or reboots or whatever you want to call them, the benefits are undeniable. I always say that, who knows, maybe one day I will just leave social media altogether. It hasn’t happened yet, and as an author who hopes to build a dedicated readership, it’s hard to walk away. But the least I can do is develop a more thoughtful approach to how I spend my time on screens—especially that little one that fits all too easily in my hand.
Bittersweet Nugget 