Honestly, I’ve found myself getting way too addicted to the ebbs and flows of social media. I doom-scroll and am anxious about what the next thing I’m going to see constantly, I’m consistently refreshing and pinging people when I really should be talking to them one-on-one. According to the Screen Time metrics on my iPhone, I spent 26 and a half hours on Twitter in the past two days. That’s not healthy!
So, instead of continuing to develop a bad habit, I’m making the call to step back and take a break. The last post on any of my social media accounts until that exile date arrives will be a link to this blog post. Explanation on the decision below:
It wasn’t, by any means, an “easy” or “clear-cut” decision — social media is part of my job, after all — but at some point it has moved beyond that and become a problem. I need to kick this now before it gets there. I spent about a half-hour cleaning up my phone, and utilizing Apple’s built-in Screen Time function to limit what websites and apps I can open. My failsafe is to move to an older, unsupported phone (iPhone 6 Plus) for a few days if this does not work, though it has been good today!
My iPhone’s home screen has gotten a bit of a redesign. I basically live on Messages and Snapchat, and literally only use both to communicate with friends and family, so those stay pinned on my dock. Then–my home screen is made up of apps I need to access when unlocking my device. Apps such as password manager I’m testing (Proton Pass), two-factor authenticator (Authy), Apple News (yes, I actually use that), Duolingo (I’m learning Spanish!), and of course my Photos app, and Maps to stalk my dad.
On my Mac, it’s a different story. I’m using Focus to eliminate those social media sites we talked about prior. The site not pictured that’s blocked here is Reddit, and that’s honestly because I don’t use it anymore. I deleted everything off of that hellscape anyway. If I want news, I open Apple News now. I’ve given up on Reddit. (You should, too.)
I’m not sure what I’m going to do for my other computers filter-wise, but I really only use them for games anyway, so I’m not signed into social media on them to begin with. It’s the temptation that’s hard to resist with them, honestly.
Oh, and until as such time as I deem it proper, I’ll be blocking social media sites from appearing on the linklog. At the very least until my self-imposed social media exile has ceased. Right now, I’m thinking of staying well away from it until the 17th of February, 2024, but honestly–I’d love to stay away until at least March 2024 just to really give myself time to detox and breathe for once.
In the meantime, Slade’s Corner (this very blog) will continue, but I’ll be spending most of my regained time talking with friends privately (like I should have been doing in the first place) and working on some really cool projects that I look forward to sharing with you very soon.
See you around the internet!