Okay first thing’s first… I love Instagram. I think it is a great social media platform. Capturing photos, places, moments, and experiences and being able to share them with the world is pretty neat. The connections and relationships that can be built through this space is incredible and I know quite a few people out there that run their businesses through Instagram.
However, in my opinion, like most other social media platforms out there it can become quite addictive. According to a Harvard article by Neurobiologist Research Technician Trevor Haynes, (Read more here) the little hits of the neurotransmitter dopamine every time we get a “like”, comment, notification, or private message keep us coming back for more and contribute to our continuous scrolling, tapping and viewing. Although on a less intense scale, it even affects neural pathways in the brain similar to that of cocaine and slot machine use. Basically the positive social stimuli we get from these platforms cause an influx of dopamine in our brain, which then creates a reward feedback loop reinforcing that behaviour. So as you can understand this little device we keep in our pocket connecting us with all these different social environments can have the potential for dangerous outcomes if these habits are left unseen and the user is unaware.
"...I think just the true awareness we can bring to our habits and actions on our phones can be a huge step in the right direction."
About the same time as when the COVID quarantine began back in March lat year I started realizing I was spending WAYYY too much time on Instagram. I would open up my phone to do something and then half an hour later realize I had been scrolling (let’s be honest, it was probably more like an hour later). Umm hello, not okay with me! So about 11 months ago I made the decision to log off Instagram every weekend, that turned into three to four days which then led up to a week or more sometimes. The following are five of the many things I have learned so far from logging off:
#1. How challenging it was to actually log off
Initially when I went to log off I realized both a) that I had not physically “logged off” in probably a few years (gross hey?) and b) I didn’t actually know how to do it. It took me a few minutes to find the log out action. There is no “log off here” in giant bold letters on your main feed. You must go to your profile > tap the three line menu bar on the top right> settings > then all the way at the bottom > log off. I found this quite interesting if not plain sneaky.
#2. How much of a habit I had developed
So finally after logging out and feeling proud of myself for doing it (not the biggest feat I know but this girl is just over here celebrating every little thing okay). Anyways I had finally logged out and probably no more than five minutes later I was reaching for my phone, unlocking it, and tapping to open the app. My oh my was I awakened when I was greeted by that small little login page. My brain had been programmed and conditioned in the reward pathway in the simplified sense that phone= social media= connection to social environment= being seen and heard= like= feel good= repeat repeat repeat. I had developed this habit and this was the first time I had become truly aware. Yes I think most of us know we spend too much time on social media but do we actually realize what is happening? Do actually do anything about it? Absentmindedly I was grabbing my phone and distracting myself without even really knowing it. Taking the actionable step of physically logging off allowed me to observe what was actually happening. The first few weeks I noticed how often I habitually would just open Instagram but over time this has decreased significantly. I think just the true awareness we can bring to our habits and actions on our phones can be a huge step in the right direction
#3. I don’t need to know what everyone is doing at this current moment
Although it may seem silly and a bit common sense this is something I think we have become so accustom to in today’s social media and technology era. Remember when we were younger when we didn’t know what our friends did all summer break? Or when we would actually go knock on our friend’s door to find out if they were home or not? Today many of us are so attached to our phones and are okay with broadcasting to the world what we look like when we wake up (#wokeuplikethis…but did you really?), what we eat for lunch, where we are, and what we are doing every moment of every day. Not all of us participate but since the introduction of instastories, livefeeds, and snapchat more and more of us invite people into our space, into our homes, into our day to day lives and vice versa. The problem with this not only is the loss of value of our own privacy (a whole other post I will get to at another time) but it is when we start to compare our lives, our looks, our ups, our downs, and how we spend our time to those of others we follow on these platforms. These pictures and videos we are comparing ourselves to are unrelated to our own lives but it can become increasingly hard to differentiate this. We bring ourselves down based on the comparison of someone else’s life we truly don’t know everything about. I have learned that it is really none of my business what Sally is doing at 2pm today or what David ate for breakfast or what Steph bought online etc etc. We can become so absorbed with the world in there that we forget our life is the one we are living out here. And that brings me to #4.
4. My life is “out here” not “in there”
Again, I think everything has its place and can offer some possible benefits to our lives but this can only happen when we are aware of what we are doing, we do so mindfully, and we do so with intention and balance. I am most definitely not saying you’re an awful narcissistic person if you want to show what you are doing, buying, seeing, and experiencing with the world. I actually love being able to share bits and pieces of my own life and am all for being open and honest. In fact I believe it is a great platform for sharing life’s beauty, for bringing people together, making connections that may not have formed otherwise, and allowing people to tap into different creative avenues. Nevertheless (a little razzle dazzle… if you know what I mean ;) ), I am saying it can become a problem when the time and energy we are spending in there on our phones in social media world is more than we are spending out here in the real world. I learned that we can easily become engrossed and captivated by what we are watching other people do in their lives that we put our own lives on hold in order to scroll “just a little bit longer”. Like every thing we must use these social media platforms with balance. We must prioritize our time and invest our energy into meaningful pursuits that we can benefit in real time in front of us. So whether that means setting a timer for when we are on social media and actually adhering to it, getting rid of notifications, or by logging off we must intentionally make these choices in order to live our life out here.
5. Being more present
Not only by logging off and decreasing my social media time have I reminded myself how beautiful life is out here I have also become more aware that I can live more fully when I am out here. I think we obviously all know this but when we actually do this instead of just thinking about we begin to experience it first hand and understand more of what is going on when we are plugged in. When we stop, pause or even just slow down checking our phones and scrolling we are able to do other things and listen to other people more fully. We are more present. We allow our senses to be stimulated in ways that the phone tries to mimic. We can see with our own eyes the vibrant colours of Mother Nature. We can taste the flavour of soup or cheesecake better without a screen in front of us. We can hear the birds chirping, the waves crashing, and the leaves blowing outside. We can use our hands to touch the sand, ground down into the earth, and feel all the textures of the natural world. We can focus on the task at hand better. We can apply ourselves a little, or maybe a lot more. And we can create a life with more meaningful relationships. Maybe we call a friend or family member instead of just liking their comment. Maybe we go for a walk instead of just texting. We show up for others and we show up for ourselves when we can be fully present and fully aware of what is going on right in front of us. By logging off for a few days a week I have been reminded of how much I actually enjoy photography and taking pictures for the sake of doing so and capturing the immense magic of this world as opposed to worrying about uploading a picture right away and spending even more time doing so. I don’t need to show the world what I am doing every moment. Instead I choose to live in those moments and be there maybe capturing a photo, maybe not. I share bits and pieces of my life and remember that we are all just sharing a sliver of whom we really are and where we have come from. We cannot put so much weight and pressure on what everyone else is doing. No one needs to be on a pedestal. We are all just doing the best we can with what we have at this specific time. And with where I am now and my views on social media I think it is worth repeating: I think everything has its place and can offer some possible benefits to our lives but this can only happen when we are aware of what we are doing, we do so mindfully, and we do so with intention and balance.
Comments