(artwork by luiji)
The world of influencers, content creators, and social media can, at times, be overwhelming, and sometimes you require a detox. Overstimulation from social media can often be harmful to your mental health. And everyone deserves a break once in a while, right? Here are some updated tips on a social media detox in 2023 and some explanations as to why it is essential to have one.
What is in a social media detox?
The proper dictionary meaning of detox involves expelling harmful and toxic materials from your body. Similar to that process a social media detox involves practicing taking away damaging habits that are developed by using online platforms, taking time to focus on your needs outside any sort of media, and healing yourself.
Sometimes this involves temporarily hiding or deleting your apps until you feel good enough to use them more healthily. You have to ask yourself, “Why do I use social media?” To this, there are many answers; boredom, loneliness, validation, etc. Finding what part of your online journey is detrimental to your health is important so by asking these questions your internet surfing can be made more smooth and so that what used to bother you won’t be so much of a problem anymore.
There is no shame or embarrassment in admitting to desiring validation and solving loneliness and boredom via social media; social media is so integrated into every aspect of our lives that it is completely natural to feel that way. However, to ameliorate our media usage, we need to replace bad habits with good ones and find fulfillment in our lives. Even in the case, where you work in media, social media detox is still possible. Just follow these few tips.
Social media detox in 2023
With the growth of media and technology getting faster every year there needs to be an update and time-specific guide to your detox. For anyone with an addiction, this is an extremely difficult step.
Turn off Push Notifications
First of all, you would need to silence the temptation of reaching for your phone. So turn off your push notifications. The notifications you feel like you need to catch up on should be disabled. Nothing will happen to you if you miss these notifications. You will need to control the compulsion of reaching for your phone out of fear of missing out. With this, you can regain control of your online activities and it may even help with anxiety in FOMO.
Look at healthier content
Things like beauty standards and jealousy will always baffle people but one way to not participate is to stop comparing yourself to others and find out more of your own charms. You don’t need to quit following your friends or family but in order for you to stop comparing yourself to the people you follow some habits need to be turned around. As I mentioned before going cold turkey from the internet is really hard to do, more so if you work in media. One way to keep your chin up is to replace anything that brings out toxic behavior or thoughts with something that will help you. You can start by filling your feed with things that make you happy or motivate you.
Out of Sight, Out of Mind
Keep your phone away from your bed. Midnight scrolling is bad for your eyes, sleep, and health. Your phone is not your bedfellow. Blue light is already pretty bad for the eyes and it is a disruptor of sleep. Another thing you can do is organize your apps in a way that they are not immediately accessible in front of you on your home screen (if you cannot delete them). In order for your social media detox to work out your apps (especially the ones causing you problems) should not be readily accessible.
Find your detox buddy
Strength can be found in numbers. Finding someone else who is also in need of a social media detox and helping each other out is a great way to motivate yourself and ensure accountability. Working with a partner can increase progress.
Tell people you’re on a break
If they’re a friend they are bound to understand that you need to take care of your needs. Actively telling people that you are in a social media detox period gives you more of an excuse to be offline and more time to focus on yourself. This doesn’t mean you cut off your friends just the online activities. More friends and less feed is the way to go. Social media validation is what needs to be replaced, not your social life. Use the extra time to find out what you like outside of the internet and maybe tick some things off your bucket list. Make it a task to reflect on who you are without all those apps and as mentioned earlier, find your own charms and your own reasons behind why you use social media.
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