If there were ever a time to think about taking a social media cleanse, its now.
What is a social media cleanse?
Thats probably because theres a long history of what one might call the celeb social media cleanse.
Getty Images
In December 2015, Ed Sheeran took an indefinite hiatus from Instagram.
(He also stepped away in December 2019 and recently returned to announce his daughter’s birth.)
You might need a social media cleanse too.
Jut about anyone can absolutely benefit from taking a social media break.
She explained that we might find ourselves feeling more disconnected and isolated when we’re overusing social media.
So if youre feeling any of those feelings, it could be time to take a break.
Okay, but how do you do a social media cleanse?
But its not really that glamorous.
This could be a few days, weeks, months, oreven an entire yearthe choice is yours.
Are there actual benefits to taking a social media cleanse?
Are all those TikToks, Snapchat stories, Instagram double-taps, and Facebook updates impacting my life that much?
Or am I just making these periodic forays into the land of no social media for naught?
I posed these questions to a couple of experts.
Here, six potential mental health benefits of a temporary social media cleanse.
Raise your hand if you sleep with your phone?
This is a pretty common experience, but it can take a toll on your sleeping habits.
For one thing, it could lessen the obligations some people associate with constant communication.
Another huge plus of getting off social media?
Avoiding the oh-so-daunting FOMO, or fear of missing out.
But obviously FOMO goes both ways.
Getting out from behind a screen might inspire you to get out a little more.
Lepp says he and his family go tech-free every Sundayspending their time hiking orenjoying a nice meal togetherinstead.
The social mediafree world is your metaphorical oyster; do with it what you will.
you could ease back into social media whenever you’re ready.
During this time away, maybe youve figured out which social media platforms really stress you out.
If so, it’s possible for you to decide to keep those off of your phone indefinitely.
This list of potential benefits is just thata list of potential benefits.
It’s not a point-by-point thesis urging you to sacrifice yoursocial media accountsto the technology-free gods.
If you feel good about your level of social media use, keep doing your thing.
You have plenty of options.
And the most important thing is that you do what makes the most sense to you.
Related:
Instagram Made Me Forget Who I Was.
This Is Why I LeftAnd Came Back
I Gave Up All Social Media for One Full Year.
Heres My Report from the Other Side
Happy Family TikTok Is One of the Toughest Parts of This Entire Pandemic
