Social Media Detox

 


                                      Image source: https://dailytrojan.com/2022/04/14/we-all-need-a-social-media-detox/

In this 21st century, one cannot finish counting all the valuable aspects of information technology. But it also has some serious downsides, with social media addiction being at the fore. Most worrying is that these social media addicts number 210 million [1] . The former officials of various tech corporations have already expressed their views regarding the adverse effects of social media.

Chamath Palihapitiya, a former Facebook executive and CEO of Social Capital, said in a November 2017 interview, "The short-term dopamine-driven response we

                                        The loop created is destroying this society. "

He also said that many Facebook officials knew somebody could abuse the platform, but they kept it to themselves without revealing it to anyone. [2]

Addiction to social media is causing irreparable damage to our daily lives that we may realize too late. Therefore, we should all reduce social media use to a certain extent so that it can be used beneficially and avoid its wrong side. Through this article, readers will learn how to reduce social media addiction.
What is social media detox?

 Social Media Detox [3] is completely disconnecting from social media platforms for some time and refocusing your attention on your real life.

When is a social media detox necessary?

1) If you stay away from social media, you suffer from restlessness:

You are away from your mobile for work engagement. Then you are working on the turmoil of the online world. You realize that your whole time is focused on social media, so you cannot concentrate on work.

2) Comparing your life with others:

You are constantly comparing your life to others. Which makes you feel inferior and continuously makes you jealous of others.



Image source: pixels.com (Maksim Goncharenok)

If you consider yourself inferior compared to others in your life, then this indicates that you should isolate yourself from the online world.
3) It is difficult for you to stay away from your mobile:

You are spending some special moments with your family, but even at that time, your attention is on your mobile, and family members are getting upset. You constantly feel like there is so much going on in the online world while you are offline, which is called FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) [4].

How to do detox social media?

1) Check the requirements of mobile applications:

In this age of information technology, being disconnected from all social media can be harmful, as our lives are now dependent on technology. So before detoxing, you need to consider how vital any application is to your work or daily life. As such, you can then delete unnecessary applications. Then you won't have to worry about this while going through a detox, and you'll stick to your goals.

2) Delete unnecessary applications:

Since now, you have determined which applications are contributing to your time wastage. So now it's time to delete those applications. It would not be easy to escape them without erasing them since they were made that way [7]. But if you feel that deleting and then reinstalling after detox is a hassle, you can take a break from the apps with the help of some excellent features on your mobile.



                                                                   Photo by Sam Pak on Unsplash

Almost all smartphones have a feature called ' Digital Wellbeing' through which you can stop unnecessary applications. The function of this feature is to turn off the notifications of those applications and prevent you from accessing those applications for a specific time. This feature has different names on different mobiles; you can remove it by tweaking the settings.

3) Block Social Media Websites on the Computer:

We all spend a lot of time on mobile applications. Still, apart from mobile applications, we also spend significant time on social media platforms as we use laptops or computers. So we should also block social media desktop websites during detox. There are many extensions or desktop applications to do this. Notable among them is the ' Self-Control' Chrome extension [5] for Windows and the ' Self-Control' application [6] for Mac. Using these will prevent the use of social media during work, just like the ' Digital well-being' feature of mobile phones.


References:
1. https://www.matthewwoodward.co.uk/work/social-media-addiction-statistics
2. https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/11/16761016/former-facebook-exec-ripping-apart-society
3. https://declutterthemind.com/blog/social-media-detox/#:~:text=A%20social%20media%20detox%20is,social%20media%20use%20and%20consumption .

5. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/self-control/ncaaipdfhdijmfdfmeoagmogddhkfdec?hl=en

6. https://selfcontrolapp.com/

7. https://www.sciencefocus.com/future-technology/trapped-the-secret-ways-social-media-is-built-to-be-addictive-and-what-you-can-do-to-fight- back/

4.https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/FOMO

Reference Articles:
- https://health.clevelandclinic.org/signs-you-need-to-take-a-break-from-social-media/
- https://greatist.com/health/social-media-cleanse#benefits

- https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/g30681374/social-media-detox-tips/

- https://www.integrativenutrition.com/blog/social-media-detox

About Md Rifkat Mustain: A student of Brac Business School.His previous school was Queens school and college and his college was Daffodil International college.

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