Social media has become an integral part of everyday life for virtually everyone as an essential form of communication, reading the news, and keeping up to date on trends and popular media. Despite its infiltration of almost every aspect of life, cutting it out (or at least down) is one of the best things you can do for your mental health. Iāve been active regularly on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat since I was 12, using all of the platforms at least once per day, but oftentimes more. As Iāve entered my twenties though, Iāve found myself enjoying all of them significantly less than I once did. In 2022, I decided to completely cut myself off from TikTok, deleting the app and attempting to go cold turkey – which ended up being one of the best decisions Iāve made for my mental health.
Everyone is probably familiar with the term ādoom-scrollingā, the endless cycle of scrolling through the TikTok For You page without being able to pull yourself away. Iāve been a victim of it far too many times, always ending up feeling horrible afterwards. The hours of watching short, almost always meaningless videos always made me feel numb, lazy, and like Iāve wasted all my time in the day. I tried to use screen time limits, only watching videos that had some value to me, and removing the app from my home screen – but ultimately I realised the only thing I could do is go completely cold turkey. So, I deleted the app from my phone and didnāt let myself redownload it. In the two years since, I feel my mental health has been better than ever before. Iāve come to realise I never needed it, and I had only downloaded it in the first place because everyone else I knew had. I felt I couldnāt keep up with the current trends without the app while I had it, but after deleting it Iāve become more in touch with what I actually enjoy doing, wearing, and buying.Ā
The thing is, social media is an addiction whether we want to admit it to ourselves or not. Breaking any addiction is difficult, but when it’s something almost unavoidable for anyone in university who wants to be updated on societies and connect with friends, it becomes that much harder to quit. On a psychological level, our attention spans and ability to critically analyse is impacted by the constant scrolling through extremely short form content. Watching long-form content is more difficult, and even when it’s our favourite shows, we may feel the urge to pull out our phones. Retraining your brain to lengthen your attention span takes discipline and time, which can be challenging for many people. Having made strides to do this for myself, I can say it has been worth the challenge. Cutting off access to the app has forced me to redirect my attention towards other forms of entertainment, both on and offline.Ā
Having quit TikTok, I can confidently say my attention span has slowly but surely been reverting to my natural baseline. While I still watch shows and movies on Netflix or videos on YouTube, my impulse to grab my phone and scroll has been weakened. Iāve found the best way for me to quit pausing long-form content in favour of short-form videos is to incorporate a productive skill. In my case, crocheting as a way of occupying my hands has made me feel more focused on what I am watching, while simultaneously keeping myself from seeking the second form of digital engagement. This doesnāt mean my progress has been perfect though – far from it. It feels difficult to keep up on trends and āin the loopā when decreasing social media use. One benefit of this though is picking up on trends youāre actually interested in, observing the things you admire in the people around you, rather than through sponsored videos and ads. Interacting with the world and other people in this more genuine way is only guaranteed to make you more connected with the people you care about. Having broken the cycle of doom scrolling and using the internet to occupy myself everytime Iām bored has only been a positive for me, and quitting cold turkey was the best thing I couldāve done. Just try and remember this: once you try and tune out of the constant bombardment of TikTok and other socials, the more you can tune into the other wonderful parts of life.