If I’m being honest, I’ve been avoiding some parts of writing this because of how convicting it is for me. I am the first generation to have fully grown up around social media, and it is evident that it has affected us all. YouTube, one of the biggest social platforms in existence, was released in 2005, so I don’t know a world without it. In addition, Instagram was created in 2010, Snapchat in 2011, and TikTok in 2016. Over time, all of these platforms have grown exponentially, and have become what feels like a vital part of life. This is how we communicate and get connected with friends and family, and is often the only way to get in contact with others. Because social media is something that has managed to entangle itself in society so deeply, it often feels impossible to disconnect from it and create healthy boundaries. In addition, it is easy to make many excuses that keep us connected to something that provides such instant gratification.
Managing social media is a very personal endeavor, because we all have different needs in this area. Some people are able to restrict their time on social platforms, and some people never have the need to restrict their social media intake, while others know that the only way to reduce it is to get rid of it altogether. This is all dependent on your circumstances, as well as your personal strengths and weaknesses. No matter where you fall in this line, it is important to create healthy social media habits and boundaries that help you maintain a healthy and balanced relationship with your phone and how you interact on it.
Time Limits
One thing that makes social media so addicting is the fact that you are able to scroll for what feels like ten minutes, while it is actually two hours. Creators have mastered the art of creating seven-second videos that are instantly attention grabbing and unique, and the convenience of scrolling down to watch another video makes it easy to get trapped in a scrolling cycle. I myself am guilty of sitting down to “unwind” for a few minutes, and then realizing I was scrolling for half an hour. This is why it is so important to set time limits for how long we can be on social media.
Here’s a not-so-fun fact: the average teenager spends 4.8 hours on social media per day! That is a lot of time! I had to look on my own phone to see how I measured up, and I spend around 2-3 hours on Instagram a day…yikes. Not only is it scary to see that we are influenced so much by people we don’t know, but it also shows that we are wasting a lot of our life away with this. “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15-16). Since we don’t know when the Lord is coming, we have to be always ready, and this is lots of time that we could be using to increase the kingdom.
Most phones have a feature in the Settings app that allows you to set a time limit for an app each day. Once that limit is hit, the app will shut off for the day, and you cannot get on it until the next day. I love using this, because I become more conscious of how long I am on an app. The worst is using up all of your time in the morning, and not being able to text anyone back or look something up the rest of the day, so I have learned to make priorities with using it. For example, I find it more important on Instagram to reach out to people and ask about their day than scrolling through funny videos, so having a time limit forces me to have priorities and not use all my time on unimportant things. I even gave the password for my time limits to my mom, so I cannot get on and change it on my own. This gives me an extra level of accountability, because I am not able to simply take it off because I want to scroll more. I would even recommend having your phone turn off your social media at a certain time, because we all know staring at a screen for an hour right before bed makes it really hard to get enough sleep. My phone turns off these apps at 10 pm, regardless of how much time I’ve spent on them, and I have had to make a better night routine that helps my body relax and prepares me mentally and spiritually for the next day.
Remember, if the enemy cannot confound us, he will distract us. “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) If we are spending our whole life on our phone, then he is being effective in stopping the work of the Lord.
Self-Assessing
I believe that it is very important to keep ourselves accountable when it comes to social media, and stay aware of what we are consuming. “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” (Proverbs 4:23). What comes out of our mouth is dependent on what we put into our hearts, and social media does a great job of subtly putting different thoughts, ideas, and lies into our brain without us even realizing it!
The first question to ask yourself when assessing your social media habits is always “why?”. I know I often struggle with going to social media as a quick fix to boredom, which isn’t the healthiest way to go about that. It is also common to use social media as an escape: letting ourselves mindlessly scroll so that we don’t have to worry about the problems in our life. It is great to use social media to stay connected, and to learn and be inspired by others, but it is easy to use it as an escape to not think about our problems. In addition, it is important to think about our purposes for what we post and put on our social media accounts. Whether you are making a post, story, Reel, or any other outlet, examine your heart attitude behind it. If you are posting things in an attempt to bring attention and glory to yourself, you are going to want to rethink that. Everything that we do should be pointing back to God, so make sure you are not spending your whole life creating your own name and making your own self known.
The last thing that you are going to want to assess is what you are consuming. A lot of this includes what videos we watch and who we follow. Be cautious that you are guarding your heart, and only letting in what can bring glory to God.
Taking a Break
When I say this, I mean a complete break. Take social media off of your phone for a certain period of time, and live life without it. I often do it for a week, because I feel like that gives me a good reset and really pushes me to find other things to do with my time. Whenever I do this, it is often because I feel like social media has a strong grip on me, and doing it makes me feel much more at peace and relaxed. While this doesn’t feel necessary for me to do often, it may for some people. Whether you take a day, week, month, or even a year off, I believe that it is good to take time where you are completely removed from it. I challenge you to try it, and start before you can begin making excuses. Then, when you decide that you can spend some time on it, you come back with a fresh perspective.
---
Social media is such a big part of today’s society, and it can be hard to take a step back. Creating healthy boundaries looks different to everyone, and it often takes time to learn what works for you. Be patient with yourself as you figure out how you can establish healthy boundaries, and as always, don’t hesitate to reach out and share what you’ve learned on this topic: I would absolutely love to hear from all of you!
Comments