Need a digital diet?
As the Internet in its various digital forms arrives on your smart phone screen or tablet, conjuring up random violence, bursts of drama, vanity and narcissism, surprise pornography, disturbing images of war, beheadings – do you ever say to yourself: “Enough”?
Emily says that it was reading about the Kardashians which started her journey to becoming a digital minimalist. “One day I was aimlessly going through my Facebook feed and there was some story about Kim Kardashian and I thought: what is the point of scrolling through this type of celebrity culture Instagram garbage?”
Inspiration to go on a digital diet also came from parenting a seven-year old daughter: “I was already strictly limiting the tv she could watch and not allowing her to go on YouTube. Most of her friends already have their own tablets and are probably a year away from getting their first smartphones. As I started to worry about her exposure to online content, I needed to consider what I myself was watching.”
Emily is part of a growing population which either restricts or eliminates their use of media platforms as a result of concerns over mental health, developing psychopathic personality traits and keeping a life off-screen. Emily is a single mother in Toronto working as a human resources specialist. “I have to use a computer and go online a lot at work, which is why I try to reduce screen time as much as possible when I get home.”
It is not a way of life everyone understands: “Sometimes I don’t check my texts for a day and people react like you have ghosted them.” In a world where everyone has a supercomputer in their pocket, there is a great expectation to be both available and responsive to texts, phone calls and emails. Emily mentions how she recently almost lost a friend who works as a real estate agent: “She had taken great offence at me for not responding to a text within an hour of the weekend morning she had sent it. She couldn’t understand that I am not plugged in all the time like that; I don’t check my phone constantly like she does.”
Minimizing the time you spend on-screen can lead to missed social opportunities, missed updates on one’s social circle and cause a fear of “missing out.”
Teenagers seeking belonging with their peers are especially glued to their devices. A Gallup survey found that U.S. teenagers spend an average of approximately 5 hours a day on social media. Older teenagers and girls spend even more time, or about an hour more. Teenagers spend a greater amount of time on social media than on doing homework or being with family and friends. The time is spent on seven different media platforms, with TikTok and YouTube being (by far) the most popular.
Interestingly, if a parent disapproves of the extensive screen time, the teenager will reduce their social media consumption by about 1.8 hours a day. This demonstrates the importance of active parenting and the role of family life in preserving mental health and well-being.
It is adults – rather than teenagers – who are more likely to want to minimize their digital footprint. There is sometimes resentment with how technology companies are manipulating people with algorithms designed to keep them online and clicking, and with how spending time online can negatively effect both physical and mental health. Many adults disapprove of platforms like Instagram and are aware of how it invites comparisons that create feelings of inadequacy. There is a concern especially for girls, as they compare themselves to idealized and edited images of beautiful women presenting a curated (and ultimately false) presentation of their lives.
There is also a kind of “burn out” with all these media platforms vying for attention. Such a broad saturation of offerings is available, that you can make yourself sick just trying to keep up with favourite online newspapers, event postings, zooming friends and family or watching videos. There is ready-made drama, doom scrolling, a sense of localization of distant events and wars, and information presented in the most controversial or biased ways on multiple fora.
It has become necessary to really pick and choose what to focus on, prioritize the more meaningful and to develop mindfulness on how online consumption can affect the psyche. Some users are at risk of social media addiction and have had to reduce screen time to recover from low self-esteem, body image dissatisfaction, depression and anxiety.
In terms of mental hygiene, the best cure for the ills of media platforms is to avoid them or limit them. When you do go onto these platforms, make it work for you. People who are digital minimalists are choosing to use social media in the most positive and useful ways, like to connect with distant family and friends and to join supportive social groups. They use these platforms in a way that promotes a sense of connection and in order to broaden their knowledge and development.
Digital minimalists have educated themselves (or have learned through experience) on what media platforms to avoid.
Life is hard enough without cluttering or burdening your mind. It is important to avoid seeing things which undermine your mental health or distort your view of the world.
From a mental hygiene perspective, consider avoiding the following types of sites which focus on:
- frivolity and gossip (eg. TMZ),
- vanity and self-obsession,
- cults of personality and celebrities,
- pornography,
- gratuitous or decontextualized violence,
- angering and divisive sites,(eg. Newsmax)
- Home decor perfection which may make you feel inadequate or resentful (e.g. Martha Stewart),
- alcohol, drug-use or crime,
- body and appearance (and not enough on healthy habits), and
- over-emphasis of decadence, luxury and wealth (eg. Selling Beverly Hills)
It is easy to get lost in the click bait; self-awareness is key. Instead, try to focus on what keeps you informed, realistic, productive, secure, grounded and content. 🏆
