Social Media: Navigating the Chaos, Finding the Balance - January 2024
Reflecting on much of 2023, social media has been a constant source of contemplation for me, firstly because I’ve been trying to work out how powerful it is and is going to get, but secondly it has literally had me deep in thought, lost in the realms of scrolling and clicking.
In an era where technological advancements are evolving at breakneck speed, we find ourselves struggling, not with the pace of innovation, but with the emotional aftermath. The incessant exposure to global news, constant peeks into the lives of others, and the habitual broadcasting of our own daily narratives—have we truly gauged the impact on our well-being?
Today, we are as connected as we have ever been, yet we are as emotionally disconnected as ever. When did double-tapping a message that someone has bothered to write out constitute as a reply? I am, admittedly, as guilty as the next person. For me, it’s the overwhelm of many different ways of contact on various social media platforms. If I can 'reply' and get all the messages done ✔, then I can come off my phone, right? WRONG, because it’s a never-ending cycle—a cycle of constant dopamine hits, a drug. As soon as we put it down, we want more
Accidentally Hang up a call or FaceTime, and odds are neither of us is calling back. Not because we suddenly don't love our people but because we're drained. Overstimulated. Surrounded by technology 24/7, and it's exhausting. Some of my friends can’t even stand phone calls anymore, this is why there are so many memes about not picking up the phone!
We've swapped genuine New Year wishes for flashy highlight reels. We feel less when we see friends going out together without extending the invite — something that shouldn't be a problem, and wouldn't have been in the past. However, we're now grappling with FOMO, one of the many abbreviations born from social media: the fear that we might be missing something because we are not there in person. I don’t know about you, but I'm not surprised that myself and many others have a dysregulated nervous system
I'm stuck in a social media swamp, no sugar-coating it. It's addictive, like a drug. I'm spilling this because I know at least one of you reading this is nodding along.
Let me include a disclaimer in this blog. If you've already mastered navigating the complexities of social media, kudos to you—this might not be the blog for you. It's more for those who get that social media is a powerful beast but are now tuning into the fact that they need to school themselves on its pitfalls.
Maybe you’re not even aware that you’ve picked up your phone for the 14th time before breakfast! Now you’re scrolling through things that, let's be honest, won't help you with a productive day whatsoever... but that dopamine just takes over, right?
I founded Mindset Maintenance, not because I’ve got all this stuff down to a tee but because I HAVEN’T. Personal development, growth, healing—these things have peaks and troughs, and I believe that's what makes the journey beautiful. If I woke up one day and mastered the art of my phone, never struggling with it again, well, I don’t think it would teach me much. I wouldn’t be able to share all these findings with you, findings that I find absolutely fascinating. Also, I pride myself on being transparent, being human, and guess what? Being human is a bit messy at times
So, I’m on a mission to reclaim my social media sanity and get myself back into a good place with my phone.
But why do we keep going back to it? Social media has a reinforcing nature. Every time we go on it and get that nice comment or like or message, our brain releases dopamine—the feel-good chemical. It's the same chemical that gets released when we do any pleasurable activity, like drinking, eating good food, or even stroking puppies!
The McLean Hospital states that the reason we keep coming back is that 'when the outcome is predictable, the behavior is more likely to repeat.' For instance, if we played the lottery but then found out there was no chance of us ever winning, we would stop playing, right?
Social media is always a surprise; you don’t know what you’re going to get on there. You don’t know who is going to message, how many likes your post is going to get, or who is going to post a nice comment. It keeps us coming back, but at a cost.
I am sure many of us have been guilty of having thoughts such as, 'Why isn’t that person liking my photos?' or 'Why am I not getting many likes?' I even said to my friend yesterday, ‘I am not getting great engagement at the moment.’ - What did that once even mean!
We are searching for validation on the internet instead of fostering meaningful connections.
So, that brings me to my findings. These are a series of things that I have done, am actively doing, and am still trying to make work.
Ditch the Dopamine Hunt: Physically walk away from your phone. Break the cycle. Easier said than done when you're deep into a TikTok hole watching planes land at Heathrow on a windy day, but once you master it, it's golden.
Story Limiting: Mute those stories. I'm on a mission to mute everyone I follow, but with 4k+ peeps, it's a marathon. Shoutout to the Scottish Fitness coach who inspired me to do this!
Curate Your Feed: Make your feed a happy place. Fill it with content that lifts you up, not drags you down.
Phone-Free Zones: Leave your phone in another room, especially at night. I failed at this many times in 2023. Bringing it into the bedroom? Rookie move.
App Detox: Delete the app. Seriously. It's hard, especially if you're addicted, but once it's gone, it's like breaking free. I've been doing this at points throughout the last year, the new thing I am trialing in 24 is strictly one hour of social media a day, and work-related stuff takes priority.
So, there you have it. If you're in the same boat, time for a change. Make those sacrifices for your own sanity. And hey, I'm all ears—what tricks do you use to tackle the social media madness? Let's swap notes!
