Benefits of a Social Media Detox

Technology; the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, to creating tools, processing actions, automating things, productivity benefits, instant communication, or solving problems. Originally, technology was created for making our lives easier. Whether, it be cutting back time to do a specific task or making a virtual world in the palms of your hands, technology never exists to amaze us. Better yet, we also aren’t used to do anything without it. Imagine doing a big mathematical calculation without a calculator, or a driving around in Uber without GPS, or doing absolutely nothing in your free time because laptops are yet to be invented.

Today’s generation is used to all this technology right form their birth. They are given smartphones earlier in their life, uses calculators for calculations, work on their laptops, will probably drive Hybrid or Electric smart cars, or you never know, we’ll see some flying cars in the near future. We’re so indulged with technology and its applications that we’ve forgotten, how we used to live without it. As they say, “The struggle was real”. But along the way of making a world a better and a safer place, technology have deviated from its path. We’re not saying that technology have somehow become “evil” like in the Resident Evil movies, all we’re saying that the original intent of technology have lost its purpose for the common people at home.

Too Much Social Media

Nowadays, science has given us many tools to make our lives better and the one thing which it have provided us with is the Social Media. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, are all part of what we call the Social Media. An average person spends about 1 hour 40 minutes per day checking their social network profiles. Share stories on the newsfeed of Facebook, sending an awkward selfie to a friend on Snapchat, posting your ‘model-like’ pictures on Instagram, or tweeting about a social awareness issue on Twitter is the way things work now. People have cut down on their physical interaction times to spend time and communicate with each other on these social network platforms.

However, there is a growing trend to getting ourselves out of the mobile phone screens and reducing the social media’s influence on us. Unplugging or rather, switching off your mobile phones completely, leaves a decent amount of spare time which you can enjoy with your loved ones. So, take out some time for your family or friends, go out with them, have an actual dinner; rather than looking at others’ dinners in the ‘Snapchat Story’. Social media was originally designed to create a medium for the people to stay in contact and share their life experiences. However, the users of social media are more lonely and unhappy than ever.

The real downside of using social media is having a constant feeling of being judged or compared by others. With the accessibility of social world in the palm of your hands, came the inevitable social comparison. In the old days, you had to meet only a few people, showed your stuff to your close friends only, share your ideas with a limited gathering. But now, your one post on the social media is an invitation for the whole world to see it – not in the case where you’ll restrict it to a limited people by putting privacy on it. Rich kids will share their expensive stuff on the social media, while poor’s children are only meant to see it from their mobile phone’s screen. Why would you even put up your expensive car or expensive watch on display where the whole world can see it? The answer lies in the mentality or psychology of humans.

People have an annoying habit of comparing themselves to other people or other people have this tendency of comparing themselves with us. Whether it be things, social circle, family, love life, personality, nature, etc. They won’t understand the fact that every human is a different individual with different strengths and weaknesses or different destinies to be fulfilled in their lifetimes. Not everyone will be having the same level of luxuries or not everyone is going to the same path in life as you are. Everyone is unique and perfect in their own way. Okay, so this got a little too “motivational” talk in one paragraph. Coming back to are point is that people will keep on judging you or comparing you with themselves as long as there is a medium/platform of exchanging pictures, videos, or ideas.

Yes, the discussion doesn’t end with just the pictures or videos, it goes to ideas as well. We like to tweet or post our ideas and opinions on the Tweeter or the Facebook, and when that idea doesn’t match with the society’s perception of an “opinion”, we face a heavy backlash and abuse from the “protector of the society”. Sharing your opinion is fine if you come on the top of the line, but when you’re being “roasted”, this does not end very well for you. Its even worse for you when you know that you’re getting backlashed by the people you know through Facebook, but can’t be met in real life. These people are known as acquaintances. You know them, you’ll even greet them, but you’ll never sit down with them in a bar to get a couple of beers with them. This is just the case with social media. Our social media is jam-packed with these kind of acquaintances. And now, it’s a high time to get rid of these silent-unnecessary-judging acquaintances to achieve what we call Social Media Detox.

Why You Need a Social Media Detox

A study of University of Pittsburgh was conducted in 1,787 American adults, where they asked about their social media habits. The study concluded that the more people used social media, the unhappier they become. Amongst other drawbacks, social media leads to inferiority complex. So, if you’re looking to change your mood or need to be cheered up by friends, don’t turn to the ‘virtual’ world, instead go on a social media detox. Let us walk you through to the actual benefits of going on a social media detox.

Opposed to the popular belief that turning off your social media accounts or going on a social media detox will lead to disconnected to the world and hence depression, the actual story is that it will lead you to be a less depressed person. Turning off your social media accounts, gives us on average two hours a day of spare time which is enough to be spend with the loved ones, talk about the real issues in life and stay connected to the real world. This will lead to a less depression and less feeling of inferiority. Why? Because you tend to spend more of your actual time with the ones who are sincere to you (or at least they portrays this) and have less negative thought about you, unlike to the time spend on Facebook where you’ll show you’re slightest moment to 300 of your “friends”.

Other than that, you’ll get a plenty of free time which you can productively spend elsewhere. Yes, you can still stay socially active by calling your friends on the phone or actually meeting them in person. However, the actual benefit you’ll get by all this is that you’ll  get enough time to learn something new, train yourself to become stronger, working more, getting fit, concentrate on the things which are important to you, or fulfilling your hobby.

Achieving contentment is just like fulfilling people wants, which are actually unlimited and the journey is never ending. The path towards contentment starts when let go the materialistic world and keep close of what is yours. The first part of letting go of the materialistic world begins when you stop comparing yourself with other person and stay happy in what you are, what you’ve got, or how you’ve got it. Removing this constant feeling of jealousy or complex results to a more quality life. Actually, social media is all about getting yourself approve by the society and by its norms and values. People comparing who’ve got the more likes or who’s Display Picture looks more good, is all part of it. When we depend more on this culture to drive our daily activities, we become more of a narcissist. How, we tend to create a spotlight on us where we are the center of this world. Going on a social media detox removes this thing by its root.

So how to actually go on Social Media Detox? Let us briefly summarize some points in which you can successfully turn off your “fantasy world”. Try to control your urge of logging in to your social media again and again while agreeing on a fact that this might be an addiction to you and you have to control your addiction. Tell you’re closed ones about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Explain to them that turning your back on the social media doesn’t mean that you’re turning your back on the friendship.

Social media detox doesn’t necessarily means that you have to delete all the accounts, you can simply delete the app or bookmarks from where ever you can access them. So, just in case you really need them back, you can download them back and log on to your profiles whilst making it a little effort where in mean time you can exercise your willpower. Going on a social media detox will leave you some spare time and if you have no idea on what to do in that time, it will make you emptier inside. So, first find yourself a hobby or an activity to do in your extra time before you actually exercise deleting your social media. The last thing to put a full stop to it is that you reward yourself. Start rewarding yourself on a daily basis for successfully staying on a Social Media Detox.