Giving Up on Social Media We don’t always realize how much social media is affecting us and when we do it can sometimes be alarming to see how much it has. “The big thing that led me to delete social media was the concerning screen time getting higher and higher every hour. I realized that I was procrastinating things I wanted to do because I had other forms of entertainment on a screen that required less effort,” Price, a student who has taken part in a challenge to delete all social media apps like Instagram and Snapchat for six months, said. When she had social media, she began to realize that she was staying up later and focusing less and less on school work that needed to be done. Once she realized how bad this was for her mentally, she ended up deciding to give up social media to try to fix these bad habits.
by natalie mcgarry Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, oh my! Social media apps have taken over our lives and we don’t always realize the influence that it has on us. Social media is something that we’re so used to that we don’t even realize how toxic it can be to our thoughts. We also don’t always realize how bad it can be on our mental health because of everything we see on these apps. Once we realize how bad these apps can be for us, sometimes it’s good for us to take the next step in trying to fix these problems by limiting ourselves, such as sophomore Lyndsey Price did.
Giving up social media seems almost impossible sometimes because we are so used to getting on it without even thinking about what it’s doing to us. Sometimes we’re addicted to it where we can’t think of going even an hour without checking our Snapchat or others will use it as a distraction from other problems people are having in their life now, but for others the best thing is to try to give this up. “You don’t have to be in a perfect place mentally to delete your social media, I wasn’t, just somewhere where you will use the time to do good helpful activities that help you rather than self harm or such,” Price said.
Social media is something we usually see in our daily lives either by someone checking their Instagram for how many likes they have on their latest post or sending a Snapchat back to someone. We see it so much that, sometimes, we don’t even realize what kind of influence it is having on us until it’s too late and then we’re addicted to it. “I got handed too much freetime with it and I was scrolling for hours with that freetime without even realizing what I was doing,” sophoThere has been a small rise in the idea of deleting social media. Most people couldn’t last long but sophomore Lily Newton has more Lily Newton lasted for a few months and is still going. “I’ve learned to live more said. Newton is in the moment and in my life, rather than looking at someone on a screen for hours,” Newton said. someone who used to be very active on social media but is now trying to fix that problem. Many people can relate to this, feeling like they wasted time on their phone when they could have used their time for something more productive. Scrolling through social media can make hours feel like minutes but that’s not the only way social media can affect us.
Realizing the bad habits that social media has created in your life and trying to fix those by either using it less or deleting it all together is a big step. “I’m not saying that deleting social media will solve all of your problems because it won’t. It just allows you to do other activities to help get yourself through whatever else you’re struggling with, but it won’t solve all of your problems because it wasn’t the cause of all your problems,” Price said. Even if you delete social media, you’re still going to be influenced by other things like the people around you, both negatively and positively, but this can be the first step in helping fix your mental health or even accomplishing your goals.
Mental health is something that we always need to take care of but it’s hard when you’re constantly seeing unrealistic and perfect lives being posted on Instagram. “I used to compare myself to other girls or boys I saw on Instagram and just really wasn’t secure in myself because of it,” Newton said. The things people post can either be edited or have a filter to look “perfect” and make your life seem boring and even disappointing. It can affect how you look at your friends, your body, your actions and even your life. Social media can become addicting to be on which makes you procrastinate and focus on less important things while you might need to get something else done.
As people delete social media, it’s easier to get off your phone and for your screen time to go down. Lyndsey Price, someone who deleted social media after she had some friends do the same, had her screen time go down immensely. “The big thing that led me to delete social media was the concerning screen time getting higher and higher every hour,” Price said.
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