i took a break from Tiktok, Insta, FB groups, Discord, and Twitter
for a time (about 6/5 months)
for one i found i was completing tasks i would normally put off
my sleep schedule is pristine af
i be sleepy around 9:30pm now and out by at LEAST 10:30pm
i found my love for books again
finding a good book you cant put down is akin to going down a rabbit hole on YT or TikTok in my opinion maybe better
my anxiety wasnt as bad
this is more personal but i find that sometimes having so many things and people in one place with only a scroll or click away is v overstimulating for me
so taking breaks from socials helped me a lot in that regard
but like anything balance is key
i dont mind going online if i have done what i needed to do and just wanna connect and see whats up culturally
Related Recs
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Honestly deleting social media (especially instagram) has widen my capacity for new Real world things in so many ways. Being more creative, having more original ideas, honestly just more time To think!!! I think the first month was an adjustment because it was like a dopamine cleanse, lots of overthinking and feelings of intense boredom
A lot of the things projected onto me I realized were not even insecurities of my own but harbored in my brain because of tiktok/instagram
I did worry about having FOMO and not seeing what my friends were up to but I can also just text them and ask ??? I feel like instagram especially is a very PASSIVE and superficial way of connecting with people. I definitely feel like my social circle decreased exponentially without it but for the better 🧍♀️
Sep 20, 2024
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about two weeks ago, i deleted all social media from my phone. tiktok, instagram & facebook. i truly think this was one of the best decisions i made. i find myself living my days a little less stressed and i find myself engaging in the world more.
my biggest fear before deleting the apps was that i would be completely out of touch with the world. i did feel like that for the first week, but after the 'detox' i felt better. i still stay in touch with news, i use Reuters and NPR to stay up to date as they are pretty unbiased compared to other news outlets. often i go to a site called allsides where i can see how the news is being reported across the spectrum.
every so often, i'll open instagram on my browser for a little bit and can really only stay on there for like 5 minutes. i no longer see the appeal and quite frankly it stresses me out to be on there. i am not ignorant to the things going on in the world, i have just found joy in finding out about things in a different way. i have linked the allsides website to this post, i think it's worth looking at because it is really interesting to see how different outlets report things.
Feb 2, 2025
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once i got realistic about what type of content i consumed on ig and twitter, i realized so quickly it was not expanding the way i think and in fact was keeping me stuck in the same (oftentimes negative/harmful) thought loopholes. social media is addictive in part because it algorithmically reproduces the way we already think. it keeps us comfortable.
start questioning: what can help expand your life? what other creative and consumptive outlets do you find fulfilling? is there a book you want to read? something you want to draw or write about? or, in general, consider how your older self would have wanted your time to be spent. you are so right that social media makes us feel Bad-- but we don't have to! it is an act of self-care and deep love to work on stepping away from things that hurt!
as far as practical tips, the best things that helped me were:
a) like some others mentioned, deleting ALL social media apps from my phone so i can only access them on my computer. this helps because the online interfaces are a lot clunkier so it reduces some of the quick gratification that keeps you addicted. also you have to be literally sitting at a desk to use it, so the portability aspect/mindless scrolling is largely removed.
b) keeping a journal because it's a much safer space to dump thoughts than a private story
c) prioritizing in-person connection rather than mediating relationships through tech-- meet a friend for coffee! cultivate intimacy rather than superficiality, and notice how irl vs. online connection feels different
d) nervous system regulation and grounding practices to counteract how scrolling can make you anxious/stressed/disembodied!
finally i did struggle a lot with fomo and being behind on trends at first but then i realized it doesn't really matter. trends are fleeting. even without chronic online-ness i am still funny and relatable and i find it much more interesting to hear about people's lives when i haven't been informed about them in an endless information stream online!!
Oct 31, 2024
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using A.I. for art instead of using it to fix problems such as poverty, climate change etc is fucking weird
art is a way people cope with human existence and express feelings as well as share and pass down culture
why tf is A.I. in the mix
its weird to me
Jun 2, 2024
i like to wear lipstick on my upper lip but not the bottom
its v rare when i do
i been doing this since HS honestly and i love it
Jun 19, 2024
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TW: drugs and psychosis
i was in active addiction 4 years ago and was going on a 4 day streak of a bender
where i decided to go to a party do meth (ik) and drink and smoke (more) weed
i was so out of it that when i had to leave
(never drive UTI) it looked like i was driving through a forest under water
when i got back to my friends place her mom said their family cat (who was v old) was dying and she wanted us to say good to him
when i looked at the cat it looked like it was turned inside out and its inside were rotting
i felt sick to my stomach and hid in her room where i began to question everything
what i had seen, what i was doing, and finally who i was and if the thoughts i had were mine or someone else's- it was a lot
it was from there i kinda realized there was more and now im here
sober and a changed woman
the end
Jul 5, 2024