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Over the past few years, it has become increasingly popular for people to make a big display of leaving social media forever. Some are tired of the daily anxiety and depression they feel while reading through endless social media feeds. Others might realize that they are addicted to social media, and have been squandering hours every day. And still others might be dealing with a variety of mental health disorders brought on by social media consumption.
But does leaving social media really make you happier? There have now been enough experiments by people to see if this strategy really works. And you might be surprised by what many people are finding out.
Social media does not make the problems go away
It’s easy to blame social media for just about every ill in our society. A recent Pew Research study, for example, found that 64% of people have a “mostly negative” reaction to social media. That’s perhaps no surprise, given that social media is blamed for mental health disorders, anxiety, depression, loneliness, and online addiction.
But here’s the thing: there is often a deeper, underlying reason why people are experiencing these negative emotions in the first place. Think back to the era before social media. There were always problems with unhealthy body image, teen depression, political dysfunction, shallow relationships, and misinformation. So it’s not like social media has created these problems out of thin air.
Moreover, leaving social media does not seem to provide the type of “quick fix” that many people expect it to. For people who complain about wasting endless hours each day on social media, the goal is often greater productivity or greater focus. But guess what? Many people simply turn to other pastimes with equally large drags on their productivity, such as binge-watching Netflix shows that they really don’t care about. So are you really any more productive watching 3 hours of Netflix each day than scrolling through your social feeds for 3 hours a day?
Positives of social media
People should also take into account the positive impact of social media. When you are leaving social media behind, after all, you are not just ditching all the perceived negatives. You are also ditching all the positives. This includes greater access to news, improved relationships with friends and family who are located far away, and new opportunities to develop new interests, skills, or hobbies. Moreover, don’t forget about the sick and the elderly – often, social media offers their only real connection to the world around them.
As in all things, moderation is really the golden rule. As long as you can keep your daily social media usage within certain boundaries, and as long as you are spending time developing relationships in the real world, it could be perfectly OK to remain on social media.
Is this really a new phenomenon?
Every generation seems to have a group of people who derive great delight from telling others how fabulously they are doing by cutting back on technology. Back in the day, people would proudly point out that, “I don’t even own a TV” or “I don’t watch TV shows at all.” Then, the focus turned to “cord-cutters,” who were proudly getting rid of cable TV as a sign of their freedom. Now, the focus is on people who are leaving social media forever, often with elaborate messages to their fans and followers about how to reach them later in other ways.
Well, good for them. Maybe they will become more productive and more enlightened. Maybe they will notice a change in the level of political discourse around them. Maybe they will start to feel happier. But, most likely, they won’t. Unfortunately, logging off social media doesn’t make problems go away.
In fact, for the last two decades, we’ve been talking about the erosion of community, civic engagement, and shared values in American life. There are deeper problems to solve within society, and that’s where the focus should be going forward.
