How to quit social media
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A social media addiction is like binge eating
I came across this article while trying to make a sentence with the word "binge", and it turned out to be a thought-provoking reading.
In this passage, the author makes an analagy between an eating disorder and social media addiction, whose danger is well-informed by people. However, people struggle to curb their behavior day after day. On the one hand, screens have extremely infused our society. No need to mention that a growing number of occupations today require active presence online, such as marketing and programming jobs.
Because we need to continue to consume both food and social media, those dependencies cannot be handled by the quick-mix method, cold turkey (quit tobacco, alcohol, or drugs immediately).
Like patients who need to take control of their eating, we can try to take control of our social life, starting with assessing our relationship to social media and screen use in general. For example: Is my relationship with social media healthy? Does it reflect my values? At the end of each day, how has my time on screens helped me improve myself? What is one modification I can commit to bringing about sustained change with screen time in my life? If I think of every megabyte as a bite of food, what percentage of what I consumed online today were empty calories (they supply food energy but bring no health benefit)?
Creating more fulfilling patterns(make a phone call to your friends rather than watch their posts) is a way to fill the social media void. Withdrawal symptoms are inevitable and recidivism is very high. But if we tame the beast of social media by moderating our diet of screen time, hopefully, we can realign our priorities and live healthier lives.
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