I’ll admit that I spend a little too much time on social media and I’m making a conscious decision to cut back.
The seemingly endless scrolling, the likes, the shares, and seeing what others are up to. Before you know it, was you thought was a quick five minutes on social media turns into 20 or 30 minutes.
This is not by accident and is actually by design.
There is a documentary on Netflix talks about the dark side of social media that I encourage everyone to watch. It’s been out for a few weeks and has generated a lot of comments and feedback. I’m a little late to the game but I have been considering limiting my personal social media usage for some time.
I’ll admit that I struggled with this decision. A part of me was reluctant to sign out because of “fear of missing out” aka FOMO, but then I realized that’s the reason why I want to reduce the amount of time I am personally spending on social media.
FOMO gives you the illusion of connectivity. Scrolling past someone’s post gives you a passive look into the version that someone wants to present to the world.
I am not saying that social media does not have value in our society. It can help people express themselves, promote their business, and learn about other cultures that may not be possible in other circumstances.
Social media has been integrated so heavily into our lives that it’s not possible to escape it completely. That’s okay. Find a balance that works for you and your life.
Deleting or removing yourself completely from these platforms may not be something you’re willing or can do. For me, I work in the communications field which regularly uses these platforms to communicate messages and engage with the public.
Personally, I’m going to trade the moments of “endless scrolling” and clicking to going out and exploring and challenging myself to do new things. Will I still login periodically, I am sure I will.
Have you ever reduced your time using social media or deleted it completely? What was that experience like for you? How did you change?
Joe Gullo