Over the last 4 weeks, I’ve been taking a break from social media.

As someone whose screen time ranged from 8-10 hours daily, I knew it would not be easy, but I needed to get rid of social media. I watched social media slowly cut off my connection with friends, my self-confidence, and my overall positivity.

Social media slowly fries brain receptors, causing a chemical imbalance. My serotonin and dopamine levels had been destroyed through social media. These chemicals are enhanced through using social media, but then finding happiness anywhere other than my phone was complicated. I eventually started cutting out all my hobbies and stopped spending time with friends and family.

I always heard people talking about how it’s the best decision they’ve made and how I needed to do it, but I knew it would be difficult. It can be scary when people are constantly suggesting you just delete it; it’s a big change. I knew just deleting it wouldn’t help me, and I’d end up just re-downloading my favorite apps, so I came up with a step-by-step plan to cut it out. Through moderation and self-control, I found a way to slowly cut it out entirely.

How I did it

At first, I deleted my public accounts and created anonymous ones just to watch TikTok and scroll through Instagram. Doing this messed with my algorithm, making my feed things I wasn’t as interested in. I think this alone significantly helped me to cut my screen time. I stopped looking and clicking on those apps due to my lack of interest in my new algorithm, which made it much easier to delete.

After my first two weeks with anonymous accounts, I noticed myself having more energy, much less screen time, getting better sleep, more self-confidence, being more productive, and just overall being a more positive person. Another large difference was not being worried about things I was missing out on. I couldn’t see what everyone else was doing, so I didn’t feel as bad about staying home on Saturday nights.

The Outcome

After those two weeks, I realized I didn’t rely on my phone as much anymore and decided I was ready to delete everything. Honestly, it was nothing but good.  I felt so much better.

I often found myself stalking people on social media and it turned me into a jealous person and much less authentic. Constantly seeing my friends going to parties and having fun while I stayed home always just made me feel bad. After deleting different apps, I wasn’t worried about what everyone else was doing and realized the things people post on social media aren’t always real.

I found myself also having a more positive outlook on other people. The jealousy formed from everything I was consuming online made me hateful, and I often caught myself talking down on other people. Now, I have much kinder things to say about everyone because I see them as them, not just what they’ve posted online.

Now that I’ve stopped doom-scrolling through social media daily, I have much more time to be productive and get back into my hobbies. I’ve had more time to focus on schoolwork, spending time with my family, working, and doing things I forgot I enjoyed. I’ve been able to form stronger connections with people after erasing social media, and I have more overall balance.

Fearing of missing out and communicating with friends is often why people choose to keep their social media, but there are so many ways to get over it! I tried not to be too strict on myself, so I kept Snapchat (through moderation), which allowed me to see what my friends were up to and continue texting with them. Giving myself grace and allowing myself to keep some social media made a heavy difference.

Deleting social media doesn’t have to be scary, and you won’t be judged for doing it your way. Try it out!