Social media has been draining our lives of experience and suffocating our social relationships for years, especially since the 2020 pandemic. Our society has moved its attention to a world on a device rather than the very real world that they live in. It’s embarrassing, in my opinion, to see all these people looking down when there is so much beauty all around them.
I can personally say that I have been off social media for almost five months, and I have seen life-changing mental and physical health improvements. From going to the gym more frequently to my mood improving substantially, I’m proud and happy with the decision I made to quit social media, and I truly believe it’s been one of the best I’ve made in my life thus far. You should do the same.
Despite the word ‘social’ in the term ‘social media,’ it’s actually quite the opposite. I often see people around campus sitting in groups, each individual just sitting on their phones, completely neglectful of the real-life friends they have around them. When you watch social media, you view how other people live their lives — how they go out with friends, go to coffee shops, travel, etc. This is taking away from your experience of life because instead of doing activities yourself, you’re busy watching other people do them. Go live out these scenarios yourself. Go to the coffee shops with friends. Stay at cheap motels in different places. Read your own books instead of watching vlogs of other people doing it.
By quitting social media, I’ve found that instead of sitting around and watching TikTok when I’m bored, I write or read a book or work on cross-stitch patterns, all of which are some of my favorite hobbies. Instead of laying around at home on my phone, I’m out laughing and reminiscing with friends. By taking a step back, I’m able to see these beautiful parts of life that make it enjoyable. I also spend a significant amount more time appreciating the world around me and the magnificently beautiful qualities of nature.
Banishing social media from my life has also helped me to use more of my brain power and return to the empowering complexities of deep, critical thinking. A study provided by the National Institutes of Health has shown that “controlling screen time” and “engaging in non-digital activities” can increase cognitive and mental health. I’ve experienced this first hand. I have noticed an increase in not only my ability to create my own conclusions based on information coming from outside of social media, but I have also found that doing so has made me feel more confident in my thinking and expressing my thoughts and opinions to others. I know social media doesn’t play a role in my opinions and that these opinions are rooted in factual evidence.
In terms of mental health, having more time to partake in activities that I find enjoyable are not only making me use more brain power and focus than I use when looking at social media, but these activities also provide fuel for my soul and give me dopamine. My body is now producing more dopamine because I’m engaging in activities that I find pleasure in and I find my mood is better and more positive. I’m happier and more motivated than I have been in a long time.
Social media is an addiction, similar to how smoking or gambling is, so it can be hard to pull away from, causing you to sit for hours scrolling. Being off of social media allows me to spend less time laying around, giving me the motivation to get up and be more active. I used to hardly ever go to the gym but now I go every day, and I believe that quitting social media is what pushes me to do so.
There is also a lot of toxicity in social media, one of these being the constant attention our digital society gives to body image. By eliminating these from my life completely, I feel more confident in not only my mentality, but also in my physical appearance as well. Avoiding strict societal standards on body image, eating and losing or gaining weight has allowed me to focus on myself and on who I want to be, not on who society wants me to be.
After my decision to quit social media, I’ve been asked many times by many people if I ever feel out of the loop. The short answer is no. Most of the time, the trending conversations on social media hold little to no importance in real life anyway, so if it doesn’t come up in actual conversation, it has nothing to do with me and I have nothing to do with it. People have this big fear of being left out when it comes to social media, but I can confidently say it’s an irrational fear. Social media isn’t real life, so we don’t need to fear something that’s seemingly irrelevant.
Quitting social media has allowed me the improvement in mental and physical health that I’ve needed to see for a while. I feel better about myself, and I’m so much happier and more motivated. Life can be a lot sometimes, and I don’t believe it’s meant to be easy. However, social media doesn’t help. We need to step away from our devices and allow the joys of life to fuel our spirits and heal our souls.
Abby Breidenbach is a sophomore on the pre-law track with a law, criminal justice and society major and a minor in creative writing. She loves writing, reading, watching movies and passionately speaking about her loves and interests. If you’d like to chat, email Abby at [email protected].