On My Changing Relationship With Social Media

I recently watched a TedX talk by Dino Ambrosi that was enlightening to say the least. He opens the talk with a chart of bubbles that represent months left in average 18-year old's life if they live to the age of 90. He shows how much of that time we spend sleeping, working, driving, etc. The starkest statistic came at the end where he states that the average 18-year old will spend 26 YEARS looking at a screen. TWENTY-SIX! I watched that video a little over three weeks ago and since then I've taken a hard look at my screen time and in particular my social media usage.

In the time since I've watched that video, I've all but (for now) eliminated my usage of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads (I quit Twitter a bit ago). Even to post this, I used the share sheet on my phone so I didn't have to open the app (hopefully it posted okay!).

I've used Screen Time limits on my iPhone previously but it's pretty easy to bypass, so I went looking for some other option. Something to at least get me started. Enter: one sec. One sec is an app that builds in a delay before it shows you the app that you select. Delayed gratification if you will. I started with the default duration (10 seconds I think) and kept adding time as that first week went on. It was amazing how quickly I became aware of how much the default behavior of opening up a social app had become.

I continued to increase the time it took for an app to be shown to me and after a few days of this, I stopped opening the apps. It's only been two weeks or so but I can't even remember the last time I actually opened one of those three apps. Sure, I feel a bit of FOMO (fear of missing out), but it has been nice to not really know what's going on. To be much more in the moment with my family. I've been reading/listening much more (just started the Foundation series).

Like with the other changes I've made in the last two years, a lot (most?) of this can be attributed to having a child. Becoming a father continues to be one enlightening experience after another. But when I saw the statistic about 26 YEARS, I knew I had to change something. Change for myself but also for our daughter. She is, for now at least, a mirror of her environment. We watch the occasional Ms. Rachel video and watch a few episodes of Bluey here and there but we don't watch a ton of TV in the house or do much screen time. We didn't really set out to do that but that's kind of how it's ended up.

I've been "online" for much of my life. From my pre-teen years on the original AOL, to when Facebook first came to TCU, to now, I've spent a lot of time on the internet. Maybe I'm entering "get off my lawn" territory but it feels like we're at a crossroads with how we use our devices and how we interact online. Between social media and Covid, it will be fascinating to look back at this period and see how society views this moment in time.