For the past few minutes, I have been trying hard to recollect the days when social media wasn’t even a thing. It’s both wondering and terrifying that those days are completely out of my memory palace. It’s undeniable that social media has taken over our life. It has tied us in a way that escaping from it has become difficult.
What is social media detox?
Social media detox is eliminating all forms of social media you have for a certain period of time. Normally, people do it for 30 days but, it’s completely your choice on how long you want to go. It helps you to connect to the real world, improve mood, stops comparing cycles, and gives you free time for your actual hobbies.
We have always caught ourselves luring from one site to another without us realizing consciously. Yes! that’s exactly how some minutes turn into many hours. It should not tie us to the extent that we forget our goals, personal career, and relationships. How about we invest the energy somewhere else rather than on the internet?
According to research, an average person uses social media for 2.4 hours per day. Likewise, an average student spends about 3 to 5 hours on the internet. Using the internet for useful purposes is on one side. While letting the internet control us is on another side. Acknowledge when social media leaves you feeling negative, anxious, and depleting. Right then is when you detox social media.
Why do we love checking our phones?
The reason why we are so glued to our phones is due to the phenomena of “Dopamine and social reward”. The dopamine hormone is also called the pleasure hormone. When we post a selfie and get positive feedback, it stimulates the brain to release dopamine. This hormone again rewards that behavior and preserves the same habit. Likewise, the brain stimulates dopamine when we get unexpected notifications. When we get habituated to such stimuli we expect the same trigger and seek them via social media. This is the reason why we anticipate and wait on notifications.
Surprisingly, smoking and drugs stimulate the same hormone. Hence it’s no less to call social media a drug. A drug that you need to detox ASAP!
Social Media detox isn’t that tough to initiate if you have a strong will. Your self-esteem will ascend, you will have more time for the people you love and more importantly, you will know yourself better. You can start by eliminating media for a couple of days and increase the days gradually. Finally, there will come a day when you will genuinely start enjoying your vacation as it won’t be for the Instagram stories.
Also Read: How Does Technology Affect Our Memory? Positive And Negative affect On Our Brain
