A three question survey given online to the Century College community asked students and faculty for their opinions and personal experiences with their social media usage. We all rely on our phones to navigate our busy, complicated lives, with alarms, transportation, calendar reminders, online shopping, news, text, facetime, emails, and our favorite entertainment. I often hear “I wish I could just get rid of my phone,” and sometimes I relate. People feel overwhelmed by the fast paced content and notifications that get pushed out continuously. Algorithms seem to control every platform and it can be easy to see toxic content. If too much online content is consumed in general, then the substance of our real life can be boring and revolve around our responsibilities in between distractions. It would be silly to give up the benefits phones add to our lives, but it is valuable to learn about the negative consequences of social media; and how they can outweigh the positives without self-discipline. I collected exactly 100 responses to three questions and interviewed my Sociology teacher, Cory Culver, to get our community’s thoughts.

The first question is: Does Social Media have an overall positive or negative impact on your life?

This is a hopeful response because it is known that too much social media is not good for anyone, but if we know how to manage our time usage, be self-aware, and continue growing in other areas offline, we can have a positive relationship with social media. The overall answer is still close to a 50/50 opinion, meaning almost half of the responses did report an overall negative impact on their life. In this article we will discuss how people maintain positive relationships with their social media usage.

The second question is: Have you ever “quit” social media?

Most people reported they delete apps on and off or limit their time usage through multiple different tactics. Other people shared that they don’t use more than one type of social media and most commonly avoid the apps Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. 30% of people reported they don’t use social media at all, but depending on the opinion of an individual, they may use other apps like Discord, Reddit, Pinterest, and YouTube. It seems like it’s almost impossible to meet someone who never uses social media. With its super important benefits like connecting to people from far away or greater access to information than libraries- why should we quit social media completely?

I interviewed Sociology Faculty Member, Corey Culver, and asked him “Do you think it’s possible for anybody to quit social media today completely?” He said, “Our schedules are all crazy, and it doesn’t even start at adulthood. It starts with the youth… you almost have to have some sort of social media to stay connected with peers… especially the younger generation. But I do think it is possible to quit it… it’s like quitting anything else, it almost becomes like an addiction.”

The last question in my survey to the Century College Community is open-ended. How do you manage your social media usage to avoid the negative effects?

Out of the one hundred responses, eighty-six Century College Students and Faculty wrote their advice and thoughts to share anonymously. I would say after Covid a majority of people value in-person experiences more than ever. However, Covid also sped up the ability to live virtually. I was surprised there weren’t more responses like:

• “No, because I’m addicted.”
• “I let social media ferment my brain. #livelaughlovesocialmedia #socialnetwork”
  

Those weren’t the only relatable responses, many others admitted they feel addicted to social media too.

• “It’s out of instinct to open my phone and scroll reels or TikTok.”
• “It runs my life.”
• “I truly have an addiction to social media, but I am also happy outside of social media.”
  

To avoid negative impacts on their personal life, the Century College Community limits their time on social media, avoids “doom scrolling”, participates in many activities offline, and interacts only with beneficial, positive, or educational content. There’s other tactics people try in order to decrease the negative aspects.

• “I made specific social media accounts on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Wattpad and other apps that are specifically tweaked in the algorithms to show wholesomeness, educational videos or posts and have little to no political influences. That way when I need a break from the typical toxicity and drama online, I switch to a different account to engage in nicer, less stressful or negative forms of social media.”
• “I have my phone on black and white mode, and I keep my social media apps on a 15 minute/day time limit. When I’m done using them for the day, I delete the app. If I want to use it again the next day I have to redownload the app from the AppStore. All of these methods give me a chance to stop and think about how much time I spend on social media”
• “I take periodic breaks from most social media platforms, and I don’t take everything I see super seriously.”

The best advice was also the most simple and common. Turn off all notifications, check screen time to monitor your social media usage, be self-aware, and have passion offline. Balancing social media usage can then increase the positive impact it has.

• “I love social media, I usually use it to communicate with my family and friends who live far away. I use it for laughs and to watch fun videos. I can also use it to study and see new helpful information.”
• “I only follow content that pushes me to be better without bringing me down. I mostly use it as a tool to learn…”
• “I watch a lot of mentality and motivation videos, I think they impact my positive attitude”
• “I met a lot of my good friends online! I make sure I have a balance between the real world and online world “

Instead of downloading another dating app, go out and start conversations with others. Instead of playing video games or watching TV every night, practice dancing in your room, play a group card game, sing karaoke, go to the gym, or read a book in the library. There is so much joy to be had in life, and as Hannah Montana sings, “Life is what you make it so let’s make it rock,” therefore how social media impacts your life is up to you. The power is in our hands.