IRL Plans for Cutting Back on Social Media this Summer
Raise your hand if you’ve ever opened up Instagram just because you were bored. Or if you’ve closed and re-opened Facebook within the same 30 seconds “just to see if anything had changed.” Social media is great for staying in touch with far-away friends, but it can really cramp your style when it comes to your IRL social life right here, right now.
Depending on how bad your social media problem is, there’s an easy solution to get your life back and start enjoying summer by, you know, going outside.
CODE YELLOW: Turn Off Notifications
If your social media problem is letting those little red badges and alert tones nag you away from real life, there’s an easy fix. Just turn off your notifications in your phone’s settings. Decide that you’ll only check Instagram when you want to.
CODE ORANGE: Delete Your Social Apps
If you’re the type to blindly open social apps because you’re bored, consider deleting the apps from your phone. It seems kind of drastic, but you’re actually just limiting your idle social habit. You can still check your feeds by visiting on your laptop at home or work, or by navigating to the sites on your phone’s browser.
CODE RED: Pause Your Accounts
Facing a full-blown social addition? The best solution is to quit cold turkey, at least for the summer. Both Instagram and Facebook give you the option to deactivate your account, which lets you temporarily remove your profile from the site – but don’t worry: if and when you want to come back, you’ll still have all your updates, followers, friends and photos.
How do you like to limit your time online?