Consumed

There I was. Two hours had passed, my eyes were red and bloodshot, and all I felt was disoriented. It was like the world around me was distant and strange, almost like I had checked out of it for a moment. I felt bad and just downright tired and all I had to show for it were a couple of memes. I had just spent the past two hours scrolling on social media.

Maybe you’ve experienced a similar feeling?

Imagine that you’re bored. There’s nothing on TV, everyone is busy, maybe you have a paper you need to start writing – so you pull out your phone. You think that a couple of minutes on the ‘Gram will add some adventure to your day, but a couple minutes quickly turns into a couple hours. Sooner than later, you leave feeling more agitated and bored than you did before.

Social media can be like that sometimes. We find our real lives too boring or too uncomfortable and so we run away into a different world where happiness is seemingly at our fingertips. All the while, we find ourselves becoming less and less fulfilled in our real lives.

Does this mean that social media is bad and we should just throw it away all together?

No, not necessarily. Social is not intrinsically evil, but it’s also not intrinsically good. The way we use it really makes the difference. How it affects our lives and how it affects the lives of others will determine if social media is a good thing in our lives or not.

It’s all about our habits. Am I using social media to stay connected to friends, to network, and to help myself become a better person? Or am I using it to escape from reality, to smother negative feelings, or to build up my ego? The answer to these kinds of questions will tell us a lot about if our use of social media is healthy or not.

Social media is a great tool. It can really enhance our relationships and do good for our world when used rightly. But sometimes if we’re not careful it can actually make our relationships less authentic and make us less fulfilled or less joyful. It all depends on how we’re using it. 

So what should you do if you think your social media habits aren’t the healthiest? Here are 4 tips to help you out:

1. Take a break. A good way to check your social media habits is to go a day or two without using your phone. Whenever it’s not right there in our pockets, we can begin to realize the moments we are relying on it as a crutch. Notice how you react whenever you’re bored or when you’re waiting in line. Do you look for your phone? Taking a short break can show us a lot about the unhealthy habits we may have built up.
   
2. Set limits. A great feature on most phones is Screen Time. This allows you to see how much time you’re spending on certain apps and even lets you set limits on how long you can use them. Generally, we don’t need to be on social media for longer than 30 minutes a day. Consider setting a time limit on your social media apps to make sure you don’t get stuck in an endless scroll. If 30 minutes seems impossible right now, start bigger and work your way down week by week.
   
3. Fill that time with something you love. If we spent half the time we spend on social media by investing in a hobby instead, we’d have some pretty rad piano players, skateboarders, and stamp collectors. Reflect on the things that you’re passionate about, that give you life. If you cut down your social media time, you can’t just leave that time empty. If you want to avoid the temptation of scrolling because you’re bored, then you have to fill that time up with things that actually give you life. The more we do these things, the more joyful we will become.
   
4. Connect. Oftentimes, whenever we turn to social media to fill some uncomfortable time, we’re looking for connection. Social media is meant to connect us to others, so this makes sense, but often times we find ourselves distracting ourselves rather than actually connecting. Find opportunities to meet up with friends in person. Invest in their lives and enjoy their company. Chances are you may find your urge to jump on Twitter to be lesser.

I’m not going to lie – this is all very hard. I struggle with my own social media habits a lot. Sometimes I just hate it and wish it would go away. But virtue is in the middle ground. By striving towards healthier habits, we can become healthier people and a healthier people breeds a culture of joy.

Let’s make an effort together to become a people of joy.