Day 156: Conquering The Scroll

Social media can be a great tool or your worst enemy. Depending on how you utilize apps such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, you could be sinking into a hole of wasted time or building your platform. We have a message to be sharing and social media is by far one of the easiest ways to get it out into the world. Is that how you are using it?

We have all fell victim to the scroll one way or another. One moment we're on our phone checking something and the next it's minutes or hours later and all we've done is scroll through useless information. I know I fall prey to this use of social media more than I would like to admit.

There is something so addiction about these apps, they suck you in with stunning visuals and a dash of jealousy. Before you know it, you've sunk deep into the mire of useless time on social media. These apps are a tool, yet any tool used in the wrong way can turn into a dangerous weapon.

According to the Addiction Center, "social media is addictive both physically and psychologically. According to a new study by Harvard University, self-disclosure on social networking sites lights up the same part of the brain that also ignites when taking an addictive substance." We have conditioned ourselves to connect social media use to positive feelings. It becomes an escape from stress or loneliness and we are just another person falling victim to the vacuum of social media.

But the cure isn't cutting out social media entirely. It is a tool after all, it can be used for incredibly good reasons. It has offered us a way to get our message and our offerings out to thousands of people at once. In today's day, social media has become the biggest platform for growing your dream and reaching your target audience.

So how do we go about transforming social media from a scrolling abyss into a vital tool? The first step is to be aware of it, take some time to track the time you spend on social media. You can do this manually or through screen time, a feature offered on most up to date phones. Being aware of the time spent scrolling can be a huge wake up call. Hours can fly by without us realizing and they quickly add up through the day.

When are you the most productive in the day? Are you a morning person or an evening person? Figure out when you are the most productive and turn your phone off during that time or put it in another room. Our highest levels of performance should be spent furthering our dreams, not our entertainment levels.

Be purposeful with the time you spend on social media. Instead of opening the app every few minutes, go on the site with something in mind such as posting an image or interacting via your stories. When we have a purpose for our time spent online we will likely spend less time just being on it. Be incredibly calculated with your actions with social media.

Avoid the search screen at all costs. This will be your downfall especially for the Instagram users. In this page you are shown everything that could be related to your interests and thousands of posts from people you don't follow. This can turn into endless scrolling for I have yet to find an end to this page. Post after post keeps coming and there are thousands of different images enticing you to start the scroll. Not only that, it customizes itself based on the posts you interact with. Like a picture of a puppy once and your search screen will be filled with hundreds of puppies. This is the death of any social media user, ban yourself from getting lost here.

Social media offers the world an endless platform for our message. But it takes time and effort to remove the temptation of wasting time on these apps. It is a hard task and requires a lot of self discipline, but in the end it is worth it. You will no longer be slave to the endless scroll and you're time spent on social media will be purposeful leading towards growth.

Until Next Time,
Lillian Merritt