I was one of the last people in my circle to download Instagram. I didn’t like the app, but I loved the filters. My profile was secret because all I wanted was to make myself more tanned before uploading photos to the other social media account I properly used, which was Facebook.
Oh, how things quickly took a turn. Despite my late adoption of apps and not using them to their fullest extent, I landed a job as a social media manager for a major television network in 2015. I remember that in the first week, my boss used the word "trending". I had no idea what she was on about or how I would go about doing so. Thankfully, neither did she. I managed to learn everything on my own, on the job. Within months I was a bona fide social media pro.
From then, I rarely spent time without two phones in hand; one work and one personal. I managed 15 different social media accounts, glued to my screen with every post, response, and comment. Even when I was off the clock, I was on social media too. My personal account growing just like the blue-ticked ones I managed. I found the whole thing exhausting.
Platforms are designed to keep you online thanks to their highly-developed algorithms. They’re feeding us content we want to see, or at least think we want to see, and they’re doing it slot machine style. You know, 10 boring videos, then a brilliant number 11. This results in a dopamine hit, similar to one you get from gambling, and it’s hard to stop because you’re forever chasing number 11s.
When I left and went travelling, social media still had the same hold, and I noticed it more because I wasn’t being paid to use it. Being far from your loved ones means you seek connection more; whether it was with them or with strangers. I was posting my travels, DMing my contacts, and keeping up with everyone's lives. I did wonder, if I didn’t have social media, could I still be connected?
One day I was complaining about mindless scrolling—also known as doom-scrolling—when somebody suggested culling the accounts I was following. But why stop at 50 per cent? I later thought. I decided to remove ALL 533 accounts I followed.
Removing people I’d met once at an event, or influencers I found annoying but never got around to deleting, was very easy. When I reached my nearest and dearest, I wondered, Is this it? Will we be friends anymore? If you’re not friends on IG, what does that mean? I deleted Facebook easily because Facebook for my demographic is long dead. But not Instagram. Instagram is what Facebook was in 2009, ubiquitous.
Thankfully, my friends, or at least the people I wanted to maintain a connection with, were completely unbothered. I was messaging them more often now to find out about their lives. During long stints abroad, we had video catch-ups, and I paid real attention to the news they had to share because I hadn’t seen it on their 'gram.
Well, I work in media. Trying to get hold of someone for a quote is always way faster via DM than email. I also need to scour real user content when researching destinations and hotels. Those are just two out of a myriad of reasons. In my industry, you can’t really go cold turkey.
Like my friends, I don’t care if people don’t follow me. What I found really interesting was many industry "acquaintances" desperately do. Running into them in person, some complained, “Why don’t you follow me back?”, before unfollowing me and disappearing from my life, unless they need something. For them, a connection only exists through mutual following. I give them my phone number, but no, that’s not enough. It's very telling of someone’s character.
I don’t have TikTok, nor do I fully understand how it works, but being the most used app by time spent globally, I definitely do not want to get sucked in. How is watching hundreds of strangers do a dance routine to Charli XCX a good use of time?
Studies have concluded that excessive social media use results in increased anxiety and stress. Scrolling for hours strains your eyes, ruins your posture, and—when done before bed—disrupts sleep.
Since unfollowing every account (bar one or two for work purposes, such as monitoring a release or launch), I don’t properly scroll through and haven’t for the last half-decade; it’s freed up so much time to do other things. Occasionally I’ll hop on to a page and find myself viewing everything it’s posted over the last year, especially when it comes to food accounts like Chef Thomas Straker’s or Chinatown’s. And of course, I’m partial to a sprinkle of @esquiresg (I stay in the loop!) but on these pages, I’m visiting one grid, and when I’m done, I’m done. They’re not limitless.
But it's no where near as much as if I were scrolling. I’m on apps that add to my life, such as GetYourGuide’s app, a Berlin-based start-up that sells unique cultural experiences in tourist destinations. Shopping for a cooking class in Greece or booking a quad biking tour in Malta takes its time online, but pays buckets IRL. For long train journeys, I’ll use audio streaming apps so I can spend more time looking out of the window instead of my screen. As for photography? Of course, I use my phone plenty for that, I’ll share it on my IG pages, more as a travelling photo album for me, something I can return to jolt memories.
For anyone who thinks they scroll too much, you probably do. Let go of accounts that drain your energy, and try to find alternative activities, like a good book or taking a walk. We’re creatures of habit, and you’ll be surprised at how quickly you’ll move on from the scrolling addiction. And if you can’t, then hey, add me (@boxojames) and maybe I’ll follow you back. Or not.
