I know, I know. The narrative that social media is evil and is rotting your brain is so old school at this point. No one wants to hear it anymore, and I get it. As a former avid Instagram user, I didn’t think I was part of the problem. I didn’t think I had a problem. My relationship with social media went as far as entertainment. I would scroll when I was bored and send funny videos to my friends. When I would catch myself scrolling for three hours at a time, falling down useless rabbit holes of information, and ignoring my growing to-do lists, I knew what the answer was. 

For some reason, the thought of deleting social media felt like throwing away my favorite stuffed animal. It had become a crutch in my anxious moments. Unlike my favorite stuffed animal, getting cozy on the couch and doom-scrolling Instagram never once made me feel better. It only heightened my anxiety and this gnawing feeling to be on my phone. 

An article from the National Library of Medicine reported that, “Emerging research suggests that social media addiction exerts a multifaceted influence on students’ academic performance and psychological well-being. While its impact on academic performance is indirect, it directly contributes to elevated stress and anxiety levels among students.” 

Although this is something that I think most people our age are aware of, in my experience this has been absolutely true. Last semester, I would find myself scrolling, scrolling, scrolling, for hours at a time every single day. When it was time for me to sit down and address my growing assignments, the glow of my phone would pull me in like a moth to a flame. The internal battle to be productive was quickly becoming a losing one. 

At the end of last semester, I deleted Instagram. I haven’t been on TikTok for the same reasons for about two years, so luckily I only had one virtual dragon to slay. I was worried about missing out on pop culture references and what I would do with my time. When returning back to school in January, I realized I didn’t understand everything my peers were referencing, and I was completely okay with that. I didn’t need to know exactly what they were talking about to still hold a conversation with them. Our friendship was not dependent on whether I knew of the latest meme going around or not. 

As for productivity, it has genuinely been a game changer. When I have free time, I’m able to sit down and focus on the assignments in front of me and knock out a decent chunk of work. This sets the tone for my entire week because I’m not letting a laundry list of things pile up around me as I get lost in the void of Instagram reels. So far, I haven’t had an episode of the “Sunday scaries” where I realized I ignored seven assignments all due at 11:59 p.m. 

This is not to say I will never use social media again. At times it can be a really helpful tool, and at other times you just want to share a picture where you look really cute, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. However, social media should not be the cause of your anxieties or stressors. So long press the app on your home screen and hit “delete.” You got this.