7 Benefits of Taking a Social Media Break

It is hard for us in the current times to imagine a life without social media. Social media has taken over us in unimaginable ways. Today social media influences the trend and buying behaviour of customers significantly. 

There are several pros and cons of social media that have been long debated over half a decade. Before we delve deep into it, we need to know what social media is.

Social media

Social media is a platform that facilitates sharing of various ideas, information or thoughts through a virtual network or the internet. Social media comprises applications or platforms enabling users to interact online or build communities. 

Social media messaging applications and social media platforms are the most commonly used sites in the world. 

The evolution of social media

Initially, social media was invented as a platform to interact with family or friends that proliferated to serve many other purposes. 

Social media as a whole can generate revenue for companies, mainly with the entry of popular platforms like Twitter or Facebook, pulling in businesses that need to reach a large audience on a global scale.

With the rapid and wide expansion of the internet and the right technology, social media is easily accessible to almost anyone, regardless of age. 

Over the past few years, social media has played an essential role in building business marketing strategies giving users and organisations global exposure. 

The evolution of social media is constant and dynamic. Due to this organic evolutionary process, there are several benefits that social media has to offer. 

What are the perks of using social media?

Social media platforms can allow children or older people to develop their digital skills and many more. 

Learning

Social media allows users to broaden their connections and better understand the world. 

With the help of social media, children can learn and appreciate the perspective of various people from different areas of the globe to understand and upgrade their knowledge on multiple topics.

Social media is a platform to share ideas. Anyone can discover and use their area of interest to improve their interests. 

Improve digital skills

With the proper use of social media, people can develop communication and technical skills. Upgrading oneself is necessary to keep up with the rapidly evolving modern-day world. 

In most cases, older people can find it challenging to understand how social media works, and they need to focus on working on their skills to understand what their children do with these platforms. 

Social media is an organic way to slowly develop the digital skills of not only the elderly people but also keep young people updated. 

Mental health

It can get uncomfortable for a person to remain within their boundaries for an extended period of time. Social media platforms help remove a person’s boundaries and develop connections virtually. 

Social media is an exciting tool for people to form bonds beyond borders. People with specific disabilities who may not feel comfortable socialising with others can find a community with similar people. It helps connect with them and mingle, which can positively impact their mental health. 

Strengthen or improve the relationship

With globalisation, the world has become one. However, we often find some of our close relatives living miles apart in another country for various reasons. Social media provides easy access to family members or friends who moved from the local area.

With a suitable device, people can contact them through video calls, which helps them easily stay in touch.

Seeking support is easier with social media

Social media platforms can open up numerous opportunities that can support friends or family members who experience specific problems. 

Young people can find others with whom they can seek emotional support. They cannot talk to their close people if they are going through any problem. 

If social media offers such a positive outlook, what would be an individual’s mental state in a world without social media?

It is practically impossible to picture a world without social media, as most of us use social media or online connections to upscale our lives.

How can social media affect mental health?

Various studies or researchers conducted on people revealed that the effects and impacts of social media on mental health and well-being are directly linked.

It may be shocking to know that our brain can condition us to slow down our scroll and spend more time on social networking sites. This can be more evident in children, and they can develop various mental health issues if they use social networking sites for more than a few hours a day. 

While using social media for maintaining a relationship was directly linked with improving mental health, there was a drawback of using it over time that can hamper a person’s mental health. 

If you don’t want to experience mental health problems like anxiety, loneliness, depression, poor self-image or insomnia, it is good to have a social media detox.

Benefits of taking a break from social media

Taking a break from addictive social media can have various short-term and long-term health benefits.

Quickly, social media can become an addiction that can cause an uncontrollable urge to frequently use the platform repeatedly and dedicate too much time that disturbs other areas of daily life. With a social media break, a person can experience the following benefits.

Increase mindfulness

Social media can be an effective platform to improve connections digitally. However, when a person is fully involved in a platform and does not dedicate time to perform other activities in life can easily get addicted to it. 

People must become mindful of their habits to prevent any adverse health effects of social media overuse. 

Taking a break from social media can increase mindfulnesses and combat the urge to scroll frequently instead of doing something productive. 

Relieve stress

It is a contradictory situation when a person decides to use social media to take a break and when it turns into an addiction that forces them to take a break from social media to relieve stress. 

Abstaining from social media throughout the day and especially during bedtime can provide positive mental health benefits and reduce the stress which can be caused due to continuous social media monitoring.

Time to explore other things

Taking a break from social media can help a person connect with other things instead of remaining idle.

To relieve stress, people can take a break from social media and find a hobby that matches their interests or play a sport to enhance their physical and mental health. 

Connecting with nature is also an acceptable way to reduce stress in life. It depends on how individuals connect to different things according to their preferences. 

Lessen the symptoms of anxiety

As mentioned above, social media directly relates to building social anxiety, loneliness or sleep disturbances in a person.

Various studies conducted on humans found that social media can lead to increased loneliness, depression and anxiety. Staying away from social media can ease the symptoms.

Improve brain function

Taking a break from social media can aid in improving brain function. Social media compels a person for their attention with a promise of new content that users across the globe generously share. 

Heavy social media users cannot ignore the distractions that can lead to poor cognitive performance and result in mental health decline. 

When such people take a step back from social media, it can significantly improve their cognitive performance and mental health. 

Spend time with loved ones.

In the modern-day life of a person, it cannot be easy to find time for leisure activities. When spending time alone can be difficult, finding time to spend with people’s loved ones is rare. 

Taking a break from social media can open up the scope for spending time with friends and family that have other benefits of socialisation, which can also keep a person happy and relieve stress. 

Improve productivity

Spending minimal time online on social media can result in improved productivity. When a person’s cognitive ability is improved, it will result in higher efficiency in work or studies. It can have other positive effects, like learning a new skill and finding more time to do productive things.

What to do instead of social media?

Our mental health is more important than the aesthetics of our social profile. Instead of scrolling down endless hours of social media content, there are other things a person can do while stepping away from the screen. 

A person can find free time for activities, 

• Take a walk
• Listen to music 
• Read their favourite book
• Try cooking or baking and 
• Petting an animal is some of the activities which can give a good feeling to a person instead of scrolling social media.

Setting healthy social media boundaries

Taking breaks from social media is good, but it is equally important to be realistic about the use of these platforms. 

Social media usage is a part of our life that can have positive and negative effects. There are various ways to help us use the platform optimally to improve our quality of life. 

• Unfollow accounts that can drain energy and cause adverse effects on your mood.
• Remove pictures that can trigger a feeling of self-judgement
• Delete negative comments, messages or spam.
• Do not encourage content that leads to comparison and disturbs mental peace. 

Conclusion

For most of us, social media platform is a part of our lives that can cause betterment or divert us. 

Social media platforms must be used in a beer that emphasises the positives and minimises the negatives for us to lead a better life. 

With occasional breaks and finding balance in other activities, social media can be good for expressing oneself and improving connections. 

FAQ’s