Breaking Our Social Media Addiction

Reflecting on “The Social Dilemma” film and what I can actually do about it

Last week I watched The Social Dilemma on Netflix. It was attempting to answer the following questions:

These questions have occupied my headspace for several years. Facebook came out when I was in college, but I only had a flip-phone at the time.

I started to think about this more in 2013 when I got my first iPhone. A powerful piece of machinery that had GarageBand on it, which was exciting to me as a musician. But also — access to the internet, apps and podcasts galore.

Prior to this I had a Facebook account but barely used it. After 2013 this all changed. I remember thinking, “Now I have a tool to help fill in some downtime here and there. A tool to stay connected with more people.”

I doubled up by getting an Instagram account. I started searching for podcasts to listen to. And I was off to the races.

I’d quickly hit a point of fatigue, though. Where I felt, “This is aimless and purposeless.” Opening social media at every free second just to exit from my present circumstances for a few moments. Then feel more annoyed and emptier afterward. My mind thrown in multiple directions within a minute, watching one person say their father died, another pissed at the president, another sharing information that I did not want or need to know in that moment.

I’d go back and forth between deleting apps, deleting accounts, re-downloading, re-signing up, unfollowing, re-following, deactivating, reactivating.

What I was trying to do was get control over my usage of what was supposed to be a tool. A tool for connecting with the world, and connecting with other people.

As they say in the movie though (my paraphrase): a tool is something you use when you need it for a specific purpose. Not something that calls out for you (i.e. — notifications) to be used when you don’t need it.

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