I Banned Social Media Before Midday for 6 Months And Here’s What I Learnt

Hi, I’m Jimmy. I’m 24, work a 9–5 job, and this year I tried an experiment. From April through to October I decided to not use any social media applications before midday. This meant no Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Messenger or Twitter at all, until the clock struck noon.

WHY

After reading about the negative effects of ‘passive consumption’, a phenomenon whereby users engorge information by scrolling indefinitely throughout their news feed, I was put off by the need for social media and felt that I wasn’t using my time effectively.

What was I really gaining by tagging my mate in a meme that means he now owes me chicken nuggets? What was I really learning from that 2 minute Snapchat story from someone at a festival? What was liking that twitter post from Elon Musk going to do amongst a sea of thousands?

I didn’t think that giving up social media altogether was realistic, but knew at least some change was necessary. So my target became this: no social media before midday.

THE PREP

It’s easier said than done to get rid of social media, so I took a few proactive steps to help me on my way.

• Turned off all social media notifications — banners, badges, lock screen etc so I wasn’t notified of anything throughout the morning
• Turned off Facebook email notifications for everything except events (I didn’t want my inbox to emulate the feed)
• Deleted social apps I used the least (Snapchat & WhatsApp)
• Most importantly: I let people know what I was doing (there’s more on that later in ‘THE BAD’)

Here’s what I learnt at the end of the six months:

THE GOOD

I had a clearer mind

My mind was clearer — I still reached for my phone to turn off my alarm, but I wasn’t automatically unlocking, swiping and filling my brain up at the information pump. I started waking up peacefully, thinking about the day ahead (instead of someone else’s) and generally fresher / clearer in mental state while beginning the day.

I was far more patient

My patience increased — I didn’t need to instinctively check my messenger to see how my mate’s birthday plans were progressing, or to see if someone had replied to my probably-not-that-funny meme, or to see if my group chat wanted to go for a beer that Friday. I accepted that I would be able to respond in the afternoon, and as a result I didn’t worry about decisions that I couldn’t affect anyway.

I didn’t use it as an outlet

My confidence increased — I wasn’t using social media as an outlet for when things were awkward (read: walking into work on a Monday morning, trying to hide in your screen because you had a huge weekend). I accepted that things inherently were awkward and the quickdraw of my iPhone was only worsening the situation. I relished the opportunity to not look at my phone when everyone else was.

I controlled my time

My time management was better — I was a lot more aware of what time it was, and how to structure my morning around myself and what I needed to achieve. Ironically, the abyss of social media knows no timeline, and it’s easy to get lost in tracking content instead of your schedule.

My overall usage declined

My overall usage declined — I had less incentive to ‘keep up’ with what was going on, so I found that overall I used social media less. This also meant that when I did interact with the platform, engagements were overall a better experience. The amount of ‘new’ content you need is algorithmically determined based off of your prior viewing history and engagement with other users’ posts. Therefore, the longer you spend scrolling then the longer you’re looking at posts you don’t want to see, ultimately you see more, less engaging content. Sharp busts of interaction and activity allow for the algorithm to pick up who you’re most closely connected with, and thus be presented with more engaging content as you use the app.

THE BAD

I annoyed people

I annoyed people. Everyone is always on and contactable — there’s almost an expectation that you are. So when you’re that person that isn’t, it really proves to be a point of contention. It annoyed people who needed to contact me (especially those who usually did via social channels), it annoyed people who wanted my opinion on something quickly, it annoyed people who felt ignored. I endeavoured to let people know about this experiment both prior and during, but it was never enough.

I was bored

I was bored — and often found myself filling the screen time by simply reading other news sources, blog posts and papers. Granted, this was more productive and informative, but it wasn’t as entertaining as social media content. Contextual memes, satire and videos were sorely missed, especially on slow mornings.

I weakened social media’s network effects

I missed out on heaps of stuff. When my friends traveled to Europe mid year, I missed a lot of their photos which were due to pop up in the AM Sydney time. I lost a lot of micro-interactions that make social media so great (e.g. snapchat streaks, reactions) and was often too-late to many a conversation. These inputs collectively make social media what it is, so I essentially weakened the network effects that make social media survive.

SOCIAL OR ANTI SOCIAL MEDIA?

We live in an attention economy that is powered by us being ‘always-on’. Social media gets a lot of flak, but it’s actually an incredibly important social tool.

What was I really gaining by tagging my mate in a meme that means he now owes me chicken nuggets?

Letting people know that I think of them and that they are valued

What was I really learning from that 2 minute Snapchat story from someone at a festival?

Keeping up to date with people you’ve crossed paths with, so you have a connection whenever that serendipitous moment may happen again

What was liking that twitter post from Elon Musk going to do amongst a sea of thousands?

My contribution was part of a broader collective of people, using ‘likes’ as a signalling tool

THE FINAL TAKE AWAY

I’ve always pondered the importance of social media and its place in society. The recent negative press to do with social media’s erosion of privacy, disinformation dissemination, negative mental health impacts and the monetisation of the attention economy have significantly impacted the reputations of Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. However, it’s easy to point the finger at the platform, when, in reality, none of these would’ve occurred without the actions of users.

As users, we need to be aware of these realities of the mega-platforms that we engage with every day. You may not believe it, but social networks are increasingly focusing on well-being more than anything else.

One of our big focus areas for 2018 is making sure the time we all spend on Facebook is time well spent.

— Mark Zuckerberg

And yes, this has impacted their core metrics, especially as these social media giants have actually start to hit saturation in certain developed economies. In their eyes, retention through well-being is far more important than a mass user exodus (read: Digg -> Reddit).

For now, it’s imperative as users to be aware of the dangers of social media, but not to revoke complete interaction altogether. There’s a fine line between social and anti-social media consumption.

I don’t recommend dropping social media completely, or deleting — but I highly recommend limiting its use, so you can reap the benefits that I did earlier this year.

It’s up to you to maintain a positive relationship with your social media consumption.

SUGGESTIONS TO REDUCE SOCIAL MEDIA USE

• Turn off notifications. Worst case, use your email client as a conduit for notifications
• Move your apps around — it’s crazy how much muscle memory is used once your phone is unlocked, and your thumb races to that little red dot
• Be selfish about what you’d like to see before going onto a social platform. “I’d like to check to see who has liked my posts” versus “I wonder how many likes Brian got on his last post”
• Understand where you’re spending time — Apple’s ‘Screen Time’, Android’s ‘Digital Wellbeing’
• Listen to Instagram’s ‘You’re all caught up’ feature!
• Install the Google Chrome extension ‘Facebook Newsfeed Eradicator’
• Turn your screen to black and white in Settings to reduce the effect of colour on impulsivity

ABOUT JIMMY

I write a weekly email called “The Inner Loop” and it covers everything from the ASX to Silicon Valley. It’s mainly about tech, startups and data, but has a fair bit of fun along the way. You should check it out:

http://www.jimmygrafton.com#subscribe

You can find me here both before and after midday: LinkedIn, Twitter