Social media has become an essential part of our lives. From grandparents and millennials to teens, adolescents, and even babies, all are using the apps in some measure. While it has worked to make the world
smaller and connect people, it has also caused a lot of negative emotions and incidents.
If you have ever felt that you need a break from doomscrolling social media apps like Instagram, TikTok or Facebook, you might not be wrong.
Social Media detox can help
A new study by Harvard Medical School has found that after a one-week social media detox, people who partook in the study experienced a boost in their mental health, with symptoms of anxiety dropping by 16.1 percent, depression by 24.8 percent, and insomnia by 14.5 percent.
The results were published in JAMA Network Open.
Led by senior author John Torous, Harvard Medical School associate professor of psychiatry and director of the digital psychiatry division at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre. The goal of the study was to understand real-time changes in how people use social media and how they feel. They used data from the participants’ phones to record those changes and understand what changes were happening. They measured natural usage for two weeks, then followed with a one-week detox.
The study was done on young adults, and in the first two weeks, when they were collecting data, they found that people used social media for about two hours per day.
During the detox, they found that social media time went from 1.9 hours per week to 30 minutes, which is a pretty big decrease. But the total screen time stayed about the same. John said, “It wasn’t that people had less screen time; they just used social media less. Measuring usage on five different platforms, we found that Instagram and Snapchat were the most difficult to resist.”
John went on to add that the way people reacted to the detox was very different. “Some people who felt a very high sense of depression felt better. For some people, it didn’t make a difference. Some people turned to exercise, had more steps, left their homes more,” he shared.
Social Media, an endless bad habit
Another report by The Marketing Heaven found that teens, on average, spend approximately 1.78 hours (or 107 minutes) per day on TikTok, and when you widen the lens to all social media, the totals climb even higher. Over the course of a month, this amounts to roughly 54 hours.
In this study, teens from the United States, Brazil, Indonesia, and the Philippines, from ages 13 to 19, representing the core adolescent age group, were studied.
Over the past decade, teen screen time has fluctuated significantly. According to the report, in 2015, the average daily screen time for teens in the US was about 6 hours 40 minutes, gradually rising to 7 hours 22 minutes by 2019. However, there was a notable spike in 2021, during the pandemic, when everyone was stuck at home with no other option but to reach for their phones. During that year, the scrolling time reached 8 hours 39 minutes. By 2022, screen time decreased slightly to 6 hours 36 minutes, suggesting that teens began returning to offline activities as pandemic restrictions eased.
How to keep teens away from Social Media ?
While the report shared a few tips to keep teens off TikTok, they can also apply to other apps. These platforms might offer entertainment, exposure to knowledge and creativity, and even an opportunity to earn money, but excessive use can impact their sleep, mental health, and productivity. It is important to encourage putting in place healthy boundaries when using social media.
- Open Conversation: Discuss social media’s effects on mental health, sleep, and focus.
- Set Clear Boundaries: Use screen time limits and no-phone zones during meals, study, or bedtime.
- Offer Alternatives: Encourage offline hobbies like sports, music, reading, or creative projects.
- Parental Controls: Utilise apps like Qustodio, Bark, or Google Family Link to block or schedule TikTok usage.
- Model Healthy Behaviour: Show balanced digital habits by limiting your own screen time.
- Gradual Detox: Reduce TikTok use step by step, rewarding small achievements to encourage positive habits.
