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Ask HN: How to combat social media addiction?

by sidkhanooja on 1/25/19, 9:38 AM with 3 comments

Hi all,

I've been grappling with social media addiction for a long, long time (I'm 22) - whether it be checking old chats on WhatsApp/Telegram/FB Messenger, infinite scrolling on Reddit, deleting my Insta account and creating one again (just 6 months later), or becoming needlessly aggravated by political hysteria on Facebook (especially after reading about Indian and US politics).

I'm sick and tired of it. Even if there's no new content to browse, I read old content, because at this point, my fingers reach subconsciously for these apps.

How do I battle this? Even though I want to sleep before 12 am, I rarely do so before 3 am, because I cannot sleep without two hours of mindlessly scrolling through anything. My average daily sleep over 4 years has reduced from 8-9 hours to 5-6 hours.

Social media has also killed my originality - where as previously, I used to hold opinions of my own, now I just love reading reactionary, "clickhole" like content (where you don't need to consciously think to hold/make an opinion), and my social feeds reflect that.

I consciously realize that it is slowly killing me from inside, and I'm still hesitant about withdrawal, but I now realize there's a safe social media limit, which I crossed a long time back. I want to return to at least that stage.

  • by lm28469 on 1/25/19, 10:24 AM

    The first step is to be conscious of it so you're on the right track. You could try to set time limits on these apps from your phone settings and reduce the time allowed week by week until you feel comfortable with your usage. You could even block them on your router. It's similar to other addictions, you'll have some withdrawal symptoms for a while but once you're through you won't look back.

    But I think deep down the issue is that you don't have something meaningful to do with your time, something that you really, deeply value doing over mindless browsing. It kind of reminds me of Freund's death drive [1] (in a sense of being attracted to passivity / mindless consumption). You should probably try to find new activities, be it sports, associations, art, or even other more mindful media consumption.

    Also, cut down on screen time before bed, it impacts sleep quality, which impacts energy levels, and from there it's a negative self reinforcing loop.

    [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_drive

  • by bloak on 1/25/19, 11:51 AM

    The "addiction" is perhaps partly a symptom of boredom or depression. Social and physical activities often help with that. Can you put some such activities into your timetable, for example by joining a sports club?

    Perhaps try reading a paper book at bed time.

    A separate device for news and social media might help, depending on your circumstances. ("In the old days, writers used to sit in front of a typewriter and stare out of the window. Nowadays, because of the marvels of convergent technology, the thing you type on and the window you stare out of are now the same thing." -- Douglas Adams)