The past year and a half provided me a lot of free time, a significant amount of which was spent on my phone. While my usual activities became limited, my screen time increased to a concerning number of hours per day.
As my boredom took over, I slowly sank into the deep, repetitive and mind-numbing pit of social media. The time spent on my phone hindered all other aspects of my life, such as productivity, mental health, physical health, and my connection with friends.
Through this experience, I’ve realized that although social media grants us the illusion of connection, it actually strips us of the ability to actually build and strengthen our relationships. I see photos of some friends enjoying their summer on Instagram, and it allows me to feel as if I’m maintaining our friendship by dropping a comment every now and then. Apps like Instagram and Snapchat make us feel as if we are in control of our own social network, although we have just fallen victim to spending hours on our phone, while potentially not really saying anything at all.
I love spending time with my friends, but there’s never been an instance where one of us doesn’t check our phone throughout our hangout. We’ve become glued to these devices, and addicted to the media on them. Although I don’t really care what others I follow on different platforms are doing, I constantly find myself comparing my life to theirs. These highlighted moments posted online have pushed me to subconsciously question my own relationships, happiness, clothes, belongings, and social life.
In a recent journalism class I read a novel about how the internet has altered our brains and way of thinking, and it allowed me to realize how much I’ve been affected mentally by social media. As I grow older, I want to make sure that I’m strengthening my relationships through real conversations, either on Facetime, on the phone, or in person. I started by deleting many social media apps off of my phone, only logging back in every now and then. I hope to limit my screen time to begin focusing on connecting to my friends and family, as well as working on my own mental health and productivity.
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