Social media can be a blessing and a curse. While it’s nice to be able to stay in touch with friends and family easily, and explore new content, social media platforms can get toxic fast. Not only are many people online looking for a reason to argue or put others down, but there’s almost no true moderation for large groups. Spending time scrolling through social media will expose you to cyber bullies, trolls, and people who are just downright rude. It’s hard not to take offense to things, even if you’re only briefly aware of something offensive as you scroll. This can quickly take a toll on your mental health.
Recently, many people have been reporting the positive impact of taking a break from social media. For example, their stress levels drop and they start feeling better about themselves. If you’ve been overloaded with social media or feel like you might need a break, here’s how to tell.
You’ve Experienced Real-World Consequences
If social media use has negatively impacted your life in the real world, that’s a good sign that it’s time to slow down or disengage completely for a while. For example, if you find yourself checking notifications while driving, and you ended up in a car accident because of it, it’s definitely time to take a break.
As David Blackwell Law explains, in a comparative fault state, like South Carolina, you can’t recover damages if you were primarily at fault for the accident. Distracted driving can lower or eliminate your compensation. Many lawyers use social media to explain the perils of texting and driving, but even just checking notifications can be considered distracted driving. If social media use has caused you to become injured in a car accident, and you can’t get compensated for your injuries, that’s a really good reason to pause.
Another potential real-world consequence of social media use is losing real friends because of arguments online. For some reason, most people are ready and willing to argue aggressively online in ways they never would in person. This can lead to extremely heated confrontations on social media that can leave you and other people feeling terrible. If you’ve experienced a disconnect from your friends, or you’ve lost friends because of online arguments, it’s time to step away from social media (at least for a while).
You Feel Bad About Yourself When You Go Online
If you feel bad about yourself when you’re scrolling through sites like Pinterest or Instagram, that’s a sign that you should take a break from social media. Although these platforms can be extremely fun and useful, they can also create a false sense of needing to be a certain way. For example, it’s easy to pick up unhealthy beauty standards and feel like a failure because your life isn’t as picture-perfect as all your favorite content creators.
With few exceptions, social media posts are created for an audience, which means they’re carefully crafted to generate likes, comments, and other interactions. What you see is not always the truth. If you shape your life goals and aspirations around what you see online, it’s easy to feel like you aren’t good enough. The truth is you’ll never achieve the perfection reflected in other people’s social media posts, and if you’re trying to, that’s your cue to walk away for a bit.
Tips For Disconnecting
Truly, the decision to disconnect is in your hands. You have to just do it. With that said, these tips can help:
Deactivate Your Accounts
If you find it hard to stop checking in on certain apps, deactivate your account for a period of time.
You won’t get notifications, and it will help you focus on other things.
Curate A Positive Feed
It’s possible to start searching for and engaging with positive content on any social media platform in order to sway the algorithm to give you more positive content. However, it’s still unhealthy to consume hours of random content every day when you have other responsibilities to manage.
Delete The Apps That Cause You Pain
If there are apps that really make you feel awful, delete them completely and don’t look back. If you’re suffering hard, break up with that platform permanently.
A Break From Social Media Will Make You Feel Refreshed
Whether you take a break for a couple of weeks, a month, or disconnect forever, you’ll start to feel better emotionally. You may not realize it, but constantly scrolling through social media can have a detrimental effect on your mental and physical health. It’s time to take back your power and be more conscious of how you use social media.
