Social media occupies a large majority of most teenagers’ lives, and most do not realize how much of their time can be consumed by it. Whether it is being the first thing they check in the morning or scrolling through the latest posts during class, it has a great impact on their everyday lives.
Senior Brigitte Islas’ routine was completely different from other teenagers her age. For over two months, Islas had taken a social media detox which has only served to benefit her. She deleted both Snapchat and Instagram, but kept Tiktok downloaded.
“It was an impulse decision,” Islas said. “There are some scientific experiments that have been done that show that certain social media and their algorithms, Tiktok specifically, have an algorithm that feeds off of the serotonin in your brain.”
Being both a varsity cheerleader and basketball player, president of the Bring Change To Mind Club, and a member of the Recycled Closet Club, Islas’s schedule is extremely busy. She realized how much time social media consumes in her routine, and wanted to take a step back from everything.
Although she found it challenging to check in with people she has not spoken to in a while, she later found not having to worry about it, “liberating.”
“I like to think of it as creating a healthy relationship with social media. A lot of people don’t know about the addiction that social media is,” Islas said.
From reading new books to keeping up with her school assignments, and even learning Portuguese through Duolingo, Islas has picked up many new hobbies in replacement of her screen time.
Islas found herself consistently documenting her day through Snapchat by taking videos and posting it to her story before she deleted social media.
“I learned to live with my inner thoughts,” Islas said.
Islas encourages others to try taking a break from social media and seeing how it may impact their everyday lives.
“My biggest takeaway has been learning to live in the moment,” Islas said.
