Lately, we hear more and more talk about people wanting to quit social media. Popular documentaries like “The Social Dilemma” which was released by Netflix earlier this year, have prompted many to take the step towards quitting social media once and for all.
The Social Dilemma and Cambridge Analytica are two of the many documentaries that introduced people to the dark side of social networking platforms. These two mentioned above were especially the talk of the town because they involved the very makers of social media revealing the dark secrets of what they had created and were regretting now.
With many instances like these being brought to light recently, there has been a large influx in the number of people who are no longer keen on being a part of social media. Especially millennials. Gone are the days when the entire younger generation was obsessed with social media. Today things are a little different. More and more millennials and teens are choosing to step away from social media. Let’s have a deeper look into why many are taking this decision.
Why Millenials Are Choosing To Quit Social Media
After speaking to a bunch of people who have decided to take this decision, here are the most common reasons:
It’s A Privacy Risk
Once something’s on the internet, it’s on there forever. You’d be genuinely at how information can be easily found out about you just with one search if you’re on social media. Almost every other website or social media platform you use is currently selling your personal data to various companies. What else did you think was the reason for all the targeted ads you see?
Gives Rise To Narcissism
Social media is all about your satisfaction and your gratification. When you post something on Instagram, you look forward to the likes. On Twitter, it’s the retweets. On Reddit, it’s the upvotes. It’s almost the same pattern as every platform. These social media platforms make you crave these like more and more every day. And before you know it, you’ll get swallowed up by yourself.
Keeps You From Being Productive
You might log onto Twitter thinking you’re only going to spend ten minutes in it. But, before you know it you would’ve already spent a good 45 minutes mindlessly scrolling through various tweets. This is highly unhealthy and unproductive behaviour. Social media is designed to keep you on it for as long as possible and that is extremely dangerous. As it can cause an addiction.
It Is A False Reality
Social media is notorious for creating a false reality. On these platforms, people selectively choose what they would like to display or make public. As a result everyone only flaunts their good side, keeping all the ugliness and the actual reality a secret. This leads to a false reality, which you use social media too often you yourself will start believing the lie you’re displaying.
Leads To Creation Of Echo Chambers
The nature of social media means you can follow those who are like you and ignore those who aren’t. This is the very definition of an echo chamber: everyone just parrots the same ideas back at one another. If you aren’t aware of this effect, social media can turn you into a close-minded person.
What Are The Noticeable Benefits Of Quitting Social Media?
You don’t need to jump on the bandwagon and quit social media just because everyone else is doing it. But, if this is something that has been on your mind for quite some time now, here are some benefits of quitting social media that might help you make up your mind and take the leap forward.
Improved Self Esteem
A survey by The Pew Research Centre revealed that 35% of Teens in the US stated social media to be the reason for their deep stemmed insecurities. This is a major issue. Like we mentioned above, on social media, everyone puts their best foot forward and everyone is hungry for the likes and compliments. This toxic environment can deeply damage your self-esteem if you’re not careful.
When you’re no longer a part of this toxic environment, you get yourself out of this toxic cycle of comparing yourself to peers. This can help you build self-love, and better your self esteem.
Better Sleep Cycle
Most of us are on our phones, scrolling through social media till the very moment we fall asleep. This is an unhealthy habit. That combined with the light from your screen can lead to some serious sleep-related issues. Research has found that following this routine can cause disturbed sleep and even insomnia in many cases.
With social media no longer in the picture, you will not waste any more of your precious time looking at travel pictures of your peers, wondering why you aren’t traveling right now. Given the importance of sleep on your mental and physical health, getting good undisturbed sleep should be a top priority.
Overall Improved Mood
Recent studies have discovered that the more time you spend on social media, the more likely are your chances of developing depression, anxiety, and other similar mental health disorders. Social media is also known to severely impact one’s mood in drastic ways. Going through a large degree of mood swings like these in a single day is unhealthy and should be avoided.
Quitting social media or even taking some time off to do a social media detox can really help you get your mood swings and mental health into control. You will be grateful as you notice your overall mood improving as you begin to step away from social media platforms. You’ll start caring less about what everyone else is doing or posting or what people are thinking about your life. Instead, start living your life for yourself, unapologetically!
You Can Finally Get Rid Of The FOMO
FOMO stands for Fear Of Missing Out. All major tech companies and social media platforms thrive on FOMO. This is the feeling that keeps you going back to social media. Scared that if you step away for even one second then, you’re going to miss out on something. Social media makes you feel as though there is always something better you could be doing right now or someplace better you could be at. If you’re not careful. It is very easy to get enslaved by this feeling.
Once you’re no longer on social media, instead of feeling anxious about missing out on random things or events. You will feel happy to not be a part of something that is not adding any value to your life.
You don’t need to quit social media once and for all. Remember, this is always a reversible decision. If you do decide to quit, and later on want to make a comeback, you can always ease back into the social media scene. However, if you aren’t keen on quitting social media but do want to limit your social media usage, you download SocialX to help you set app limits and maintain a healthy social media lifestyle.