I’m an 18-year-old teenager who was born into a world already full of technology, this has had ups and downs and I can see the difference between my siblings and me regarding social media. My siblings are both millennials and I’m a member of Generation Z.
I know I’m not the only one that has experienced some kind of frustration or anxiety every time I go into Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok, or any other social media platform.
Every time I go into Instagram, I see all of my friends traveling, going to big parties, and having so much fun while I'm on my living room’s couch, and although everyone is always telling me how everything is probably fake, sometimes it’s hard to believe.
I try spending less time on my phone every day and try living my own life instead of staring at a screen all day trying to live someone else’s life, but still, these images are always in my mind reminding me how everyone’s life seems to be so interesting and how mine is so ordinary…
So, I started doing some research about this and found out it’s really common in our generation.
People that tend to visit social media more than 58 times per week are more likely to experience anxiety or depression.
This is why I made this list of tips you could try to spend less time on social media:
1. Turn off your notifications.
I’ve done this with most of my social media apps, like Facebook and Snapchat, this way I forget to check on them sometimes and I find myself not worrying about them so much. The red dot in the corner of the app symbol is a way for the app to beg you to check on them —resist the urge— and I know how hard it is to ignore the notifications.
2. Don’t use your phone as an alarm clock.
I won’t lie, I’m used to waking up and check on my phone first thing in the morning. I check on Instagram and Tik Tok and spend hours scrolling through it non-stop. Sometimes I set my wake-up alarm and I end up getting out of bed two hours later and half of my morning is already wasted. Label your room as a TECH-FREE ZONE!
3. Track the time you spend on social media.
It’s happened to me several times that I spend hours a day on social media without even noticing, sometimes I even spend 4 hours a day connected to my phone, which, from what I’ve heard, is common among people my age. This made me self-conscious about the way I was spending my time and why I never felt productive during the day. Limit yourself to no more than 1 hour of social media a day.
4. Erase the app from your phone.
I know this might sound a bit extreme, but I’ve erased several social media apps from my phone, and I find myself being so much more productive! Do the experiment, erase at least one of your social media apps for at least 15 days, and watch your days become more productive and less stressful right in front of your eyes!
I hope these tips work for you. Social media in our generation has a lot of benefits but we also have to pay attention to the drawback these may bring us. We should focus on using these apps in a positive and productive way because, otherwise, it may cause depression, anxiety, and more issues than you can imagine, so let’s try to avoid this, shall we?
Do you also spend lots of hours on your phone every day?
How do you manage your social media time?