Social Media Awareness in 2019

By Rene Santana on January 14, 2019

As you scroll through your social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram feed, do you ever wonder when the last time you went roller-staking was? Bowling? To the trampoline park? Even just for a walk around town? Any of these things are great ways to get off the couch or bed and give your mind a nice refresh. Chances are you need it, especially if you are feeling burned out from work or feel under the weather about your 2019 goals. But you might also need to get out because of the amount of time you spend scrolling through social media feeds.

The truth about social media and streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime is that they’re endless sources of entertainment. I, too, am guilty of scrolling forever on my feed before realizing an hour has passed—just scrolling through my feed! It’s the worst when you’re trying to finish homework or get stuff done at work. Though it may not seem like it, being on your phone for hours at a time could be considered an addiction. If you try to put your phone down or log out of your social media accounts on your computer, you may notice yourself itching to go back.

Social Media Apps

Photo by Tracy Le Blanc from Pexels

Don’t think the problem is that serious? Think about this; to spend an hour on your phone, scrolling through Instagram or Twitter, is to inhale thousands of images, sentences, events, emotional connections, etc. If someone asked you to remember what the 77th tweet you read said, could you remember it? Not likely. However, you might remember the 65th or 97th tweet because you would have related with that post, meme, or read a funny tweet, but then not relate with the other 60% of the content you’ve read. Imagine all the information your brain intakes; it’s almost like making your brain walk for miles on end without a break!

That’s my take on it though, but here’s Caroline Burke’s, from Elite Daily: “Social media channels thrive off of constant updating, and it can be really easy to get hooked on refreshing your news feeds over and over again, because there’s always something new for you to look at, whether it’s a controversial political post, or a mouth-watering recipe video.”

There is, however, hope to cure the itch. You can download mindfulness apps such as Calm, Space, and my personal favorite, Forest. While using apps to keep you away from your phone may feel a bit odd at first, they help in the long run to reduce screen time, which in-turn reduces scrolling through social media feeds. Though we would like to believe we can stop cold turkey, it takes a great deal of will power to quit the addiction.

Interestingly, companies like Google, Apple, pre-install their phones with digital well-being apps, that monitors and helps users adjust their on-screen time. While Tech companies want you to use their apps and products in your daily commute and activities, even they know that too much screen time isn’t healthy.

So, if you need a quick first baby step, try to these steps:

  • Download a mindfulness app to reduce the amount of time spent on your phone.
  • Turn on a blue light filter to help your eyes relax and ease your mind so you can fall asleep faster.
  • Log out of each social media site. This will at the very least make you login back in, and if you haven’t logged out in a while, you may have to remember your password, making the task that much more strenuous.

As a heads up, reducing the urge to look at your social media feeds is a real struggle. The reward, however, is your precious time back to be more productive, aware, and happy!

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