I think most people spend more time than necessary on social media on a day to day basis, but too much focus on your online profiles can have negative impacts on your overall life and happiness. If a few (or more than a few) of these behaviors are things you’re consistently guilty of, you’re definitely in need of a social media detox.
- You’re constantly refreshing your newsfeeds. If you keep switching back and forth between Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, refreshing your feeds to see if anything new was posted, you probably need a break from social media. This can cause you to miss out on the world around you and keep you from getting important things done.
- Your food literally gets cold while you try to take the perfect Instagram picture. And your friends are probably starting to get a little annoyed, as well. If you’re constantly worried about the right lighting and perfect angle to the point that your food gets cold or you iced coffees get watery, you definitely need a detox.
- You spend money on food, clothing, activities or basically anything mainly because you know it will be a good picture for social media. I’m definitely guilty of this one from time to time, but it’s something I definitely want to stop doing. I’ve bought food that I didn’t really want or gone to an event I wasn’t really interested in just because I knew it would be a cool picture for social media. That’s ridiculous.
- Your Snapchat stories are hundreds of seconds long. Or even more than 20-30 seconds! If you’re missing out on things because your too busy Snaphatting them, you may want to take a break from the altogether. Social media is great, but sometimes it keeps us from really living in the moment.
- You spend more than 10 minutes trying to think of the perfect Instagram caption. I’m being generous with this one, and that’s because I’ve done it as well. I’ve spent plenty of time (and wasted tons of conversations/texts) trying to come up with the perfect caption for a picture.
- You worry about posting a picture or status because you want to get a certain amount of likes. Or, alternatively, you post things that you know will get a lot of likes just for that reason. Likes aren’t everything, and just because someone likes your post online doesn’t mean they actually like you. Plus, if you need social media for validation, you need to take a break.
- You lose sleep because of social media. If you’re staying up for hours after you’ve climbed in bed, scrolling through social media, then you need to take a detox. This is unhealthy and sleep is super important for your overall health.
- You get distracted from getting important things done because of social media. Are you spending more time on Facebook than working while you’re at work? Is your laundry piling up and are you eating cereal for dinner again because you’ve been Snapchatting all night? If social media’s getting in the way of important things that you need to get done, that’s a sign you need to take a break from it.
- You regularly stalk your ex, your boyfriend’s ex, or anyone random online. We’re all guilty of this from time to time, but if stalking people online who should be unimportant to your life at this point takes up any amount of consistent time in your day-to-day life, then you probably should put your phone down and take some time a step back. Constantly looking at other people’s social media accounts, especially people whose posts may have a negative impact on your mindset, can cause you to become obsessive and lose track of what’s important.
- You post any picture, tweet or status update to get someone’s attention or make them jealous. This is catty and will bring drama into your life (subtweeters, this is for you). Just stop doing it, and if you can’t, take a social media break. You don’t need unnecessary problems with people and you shouldn’t have to beg for anyone’s attention.
- A good chunk of your conversations start with, “Did you see that tweet/pic/post?” I can’t even tell you how many conversations (both via text and in person) I’ve had with my friends about social media and what other people are posting online. It’s mad! So much wasted time and energy, and who really cares at the end of the day?
- You care more about how you appear on social media than who you actually are in life. It’s exhausting trying to keep up with a “perfect” life on social media or to try and appear different than you actually are in real life online. Social media is fake more often than not, so remember that you’re only adding to it when you go to post something that’s not authentically you. If your online appearance is something you spend energy worrying about, get a grip and delete your apps for awhile.
