The Social Dilemma: Reaction of a College Student

Lessons we can learn and changes we can make.

The Social Dilemma is going viral on Netflix. Why? It is targetting our society’s greatest addiction: smartphones, and the impact of social media on our lives.

Social media was not created with the meaning of being bad for us. It was supposed to be a tool for us. But over the years, it turned into a tool for making money out of us, by making the content more and more addictive. But I let you watch the documentary on Netflix to know more about it.

Honestly, I am not ready to give up on social media. If I managed to delete Facebook, I know I could not do the same with Instagram and Youtube, mainly because the first is my major source of inspiration for my cooking and the second is vital for my yoga practice.

I can realize nonetheless that we need to let go of social media as much as we can. This documentary was a wake-up call. And if I am not a teenager who spends hours on TikTok and putting filters on my face, if I don’t need as much social acceptance as others, I am still bound to social media. We are all, at any age. Very few of us can say they are not addicted to any kind of social media.

Target What Makes You Addictive

As I said, not only teenagers are addicted to their smartphones. They are so many different kinds of social media and applications that at any age, one of them can make you addicted.

In the documentary, teenagers tend to spend more time on TikTok and Instagram, adults on Emails, and Facebook was a global constant.

You can’t say ‘I don’t use TikTok, nor Pinterest, so I am not concerned’. No. Try putting your phone away for only one full day — one week may be too much, as we also use our phones for work — and you will see that it is harder than you thought. Yes, there is this app that you love and can’t let go.

I know that it is hard to admit. You can be thinking

‘I am not like my kids’ or ‘I am not like them, I don’t spend that much time on my phone’. It won’t help you — denial is the perfect solution to make things worse. Awareness is the first step of having control over yourself.

How I applied it to me: As mentioned earlier, I use Instagram a lot as a source of inspiration for recipes and workouts. I practice yoga with youtube videos. And I use Snapchat a lot to talk and send pictures to good friends who don’t live in my city. I am not ready to stop using these applications, but I can work on reducing the time I spend on them.

Get Rid Of The Unnecessary Stuff

It is just like minimalism: the fewer things you possess, the fewer things you need to take care of. Here, the fewer apps you have on your phone, the less time you will spend on it.

Our phones are loaded with apps that we downloaded one day thinking ‘oh this one can be useful’. But how many times did you use it? Maybe you opened it twice, the first time to log in, and the second to clear the notifications you received.

You can’t delete all apps at once (well, if you can, congrats). Start progressively. Ask yourself those questions: Have I opened it the past week? Did I get something out of it? Do I like using it?

If you answer no to one of them, then you don’t need the app on your phone. If you happen to need it later on, then simply download it then, it only takes a few seconds.

How I applied it to me: I think I have deleted 10 apps. Some with yoga workouts, some to scan food labels at the grocery store, and so many shopping apps. It is so satisfying to it the delete button.

Define Your Phone Time

Just like when we were little kids and you were allowed to play one hour before dinner time. We knew this one-hour special, unique, and we enjoyed it so much. There was also this pleasure when we were longing for playtime. It was almost better than the playing itself.

Why these habits have to change when we grow up? If our distractions have changed, they are still distractions. Do the same now. Allow yourself one hour on your phone before dinner — or after, or while your meal cooks. Maybe take a 15 minutes afternoon break to catch up with your network.

Do not restrict yourself too much either, but know when it is the time to go on your phone, and when it is not. What we want to avoid is to turn to our phone on the first occasion, or missing things out because you were on your phone — like spending the evening out for a drink with your friends, but checking your phone every five minutes. When you are doing something else, then you are not on your phone. You are working out. You are laughing. You are dancing. Enjoy that.

How I applied it to me: When I spend time with my friend, I make sure my phone stays in my bag. If I am with these particular friends, it is because I want to be with them, enjoy their presence, and not talk with other friends through social media. Being in lockdown made me realize how important it is to spend time with the ones we love. I want to value that.

Turn Off Notifications

Imagine you are working on something very important or reading a good book. Your phone buzzes. You glance at it. It might be interesting, you think. You pick it up, unlock it. You check the notification and get carried away by the feed. You switch to another app, with new content that was not there last time. Ten minutes later, you are still on your phone. You stopped what you were doing before, and lost track. It will take you a few minutes to get back at it again.

Yes, that is the power of notifications. I know the documentary talks about it a lot, and it is also the first thing they recommend: turn off notifications.

Notifications are made to get you hooked. To fill your needs of attention. But nothing changed fundamentally before or after a notification. At the end of the day, your post will have the same number of likes. If you open your mail every two hours instead of every five minutes, no one will be mad at you — it can wait, and your interlocutor will probably not answer you right away.

The world is not going to change in a handclap

If you are too scared of missing out, keep only the ones that are important to you. Or maybe turn off the notification on your lock screen, but keep the labels on the apps. Don’t be too drastic!

How I applied it to me: I still have notifications for family and close friends messages, for my job during the daytime, for calls, and one news channel. I have turned off the rest because I know that if I truly want to check them, I will eventually.

Switch Screen Time For Reading Time

At this point, we already realized we lost a huge amount of time wandering aimlessly on our phones. But the funny thing is that ‘having not enough time’ is one of our favorite excuses. How fake is that? How many times did you say you were not reading a lot because now you don’t have time anymore? Or that you don’t go to play basketball with your friends because, with your new job, there is no time left?

The time is right there, you have got it. Now use it the right way.

Something easy to make great use of your time while being productive and lazy at the same time is reading. A great book is so enchanting! There are tons of stories, types of novels, self-development books… there must be a book made for you.

There are so many moments when you can open your book instead of turning on your phone: on the bus, before bed, when you get home and crash on the couch, on a rainy Sunday, on a sunny afternoon at the park. Bring your book with you anywhere you go. You feel way more satisfied after you had a good reading session than when you realized you spent one aimless hour on your phone.

How I applied it to me: I take my Kindle with me, in the bag I take to go to work, so I can read on the subway. The Kindle is great because of its lightweight, the screen does not emit blue light, and you can’t damage it or corner the pages. Also, I have a real book on the side of my bed: reading a few pages helps me falling asleep.

In the end, what has changed for me? Quick sum up.

Overall, not that much has changed. I still have the information that is important to me. I still talk with the people I want to. I still get news from my friends’ travels and activities. Except that I chose it, and I chose when to see it.

Also, I have got much more time for myself. I did some of these changes a while ago, before watching The Social Dilemma. I got back into reading, I have more quality time with friends and family, and I increased my yoga practice. And I still sleep the same number of hours, I promise.

talk about it, find solutions: thesocialdilemma.com