There is a popular saying in West Indian households, “No one can tek yuh education.” I had never really given it much thought until I got older. I realized something—not someone— was taking more than my education. It was also taking up my time: Instagram.
So I decided to quit the app. I was tired of constantly feeling connected to my phone, needing to check it every few hours for who or what was new. It wasn’t easy at first. It felt almost like withdrawal, not surprising considering many have suggested that social media gives off a dopamine high (like cocaine and opiods do) which make you want to keep checking it further*.
But as the days went by, I felt something positive come over me as well: a piece of mind that I was not wasting my time and my life on something that did not seem to benefit me much. Now don’t get me wrong, I love taking photos and feeling liked as much as the next person. But social media created more harm than good especially in millennials like myself. At times, I felt jealousy, anger and low self-esteem looking at my peers’ photos and seeing how happy they looked, how much fun they had and what they had accomplished. So it was no shock to learn that Instagram is considered the worst social media site for mental health for young adults**.
After I quit I realized I had so much more time for myself. I used my newfound time reading whole novels, plays, and articles. Besides reading, I watched over twenty-five films and two complete shows. The hours I had spent mindlessly going through my feed was now replaced with me gaining useful knowledge instead. I was thriving in my professional life too. As a training actor, one is supposed to have a reel, resume and usually a web presence. I made all three in less time than I ever thought possible. I completed school assignments ahead of deadlines and still had time left over. Never in my life had I accomplished so much in such a short time.
It wasn’t coincidental either. Studies have also supported that social media fragments attention span, especially in young people, making it harder to concentrate for longer, harder tasks***. Quitting social media may not be your cup of tea. However I encourage my fellow millenials and even the baby boomers out there to detox even for a day, a week, a month, at times, just to recapture what your IRL highlight reel can look like. Besides seeing who my true friends were (not just the ones “liking” my posts), I gained something truly invaluable: my education and time back. For most millenials, our parents are immigrants.
We, as first-generation Americans, living in this land of opportunity, I believe we should make the most out of it. So before you post that next selfie or scroll through a stranger’s feed, I implore you to consider if your time is being well spent. Quitting social media for a day, a week, a month, can truly give you back that education and time you need to make a difference in your life. No one—or app—should take that away from you.
