It was only a matter of time before quitting social media became trendy. (Some of us were doing it before it was cool—just saying.) Celebs like Sam Smith, Adele, Chrissy Teigen, Kanye West, Rihanna, Leslie Jones and Justin Bieber have all taken breaks from various platforms in the past, and we expect to see more famous—and non-famous—faces deleting their feeds in the years to come, even if just for a brief respite. After all, social media use has been linked to an increase in rates of depression and can become an actual addiction. Here, seven signs it might be time to get in on this trend and give your iPhone (and your early-onset-arthritis-ridden thumbs) a well-deserved break.
How To Know When It's Time To Take A Break
If your friend recently told you she's planning to climb Kilimanjaro this year and your knee-jerk reaction was to book an Everest summit, having never climbed before, just so your Instagram feed would rival hers, it's probably time for a break. (Though dying on a mountain would be a surefire way to boost your numbers.)
Imagine, for a moment, that your significant other didn't follow you on social media. Would he or she get you like the people who subscribe to your feeds do? If not, we suggest you spend a little less time investing in filter selection and a little more time investing in the people closest to you. Besides, your partner really should be the only person obligated to care about the mundane details of your life.
You should be able to run errands without a blowout, TBH. If you can't because your social followers aren't used to seeing you au naturel, and you can't not Snap from CVS, it might be time for a little recess. Ditto if you dress up just to sit around at home because you have an audience 24-7. (Caveat: If you're getting paid for these efforts as some sort of blogger, by all means continue while the rest of us slog away at office jobs bitterly perusing your photos and wondering why we don't look like you when we wake up.)
When you meet up with people, do you actually interact with them off camera, or do you Snap them and then spend the rest of your meal or activity watching other people's Snaps? If it's the latter, it may be time to cleanse, at least for the duration of a dinner. If you look around the table and everyone is buried in their phones, consider implementing a no-phone policy for at least one hour per hang.
Science has shown that hate-following someone can actually make you feel better; however, that assumes you're feeling bad to begin with. If you can't muster up the strength to do a full-on social blackout, here are some tips for breaking this particularly toxic habit.
If every line in your text conversations with friends is furnished by @TheFatJewish and @MyTherapistSays, it might be time to detox from your social obsession. Try forming full sentences invented by your own brain instead. It will be challenging at first, but we assume non-GIF exchange is like riding a bike, and that words, phrases and other grammatical nonsense will come back to you in no time.
Girl, come on. This is not okay.
