Social media fasting stories

I occasionally take time away from social media just to refocus and try to spend my time in other places that are more important. I try to do that anytime I find that I'm spending too much time on social media and it's like getting out of balance with the rest of my life. And I think they're really healthy. I think everyone should fast from social media sometimes. And as a missionary, I didn't have access to Snapchat or Instagram. I wasn't supposed to use Facebook for anything other than sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I found it so refreshing and I really realized like how little I missed those things. Like I realized that they weren't a very important part of my life, but that they were more something that I did to fill time when I wanted a distraction or when I was bored or I just didn't make plans. And so I think that a social media fast is really good to open your eyes to that and help you kind of reprioritize.

Video 2 Transcript

Okay, I chose this one because I am currently taking a break from Instagram. I'm trying to go without it the whole year and I've gone from January 1st so far, so almost three months. And I feel like at first it was super weird. It was really weird and I just wasn't used to it. And so it was like, I'd get on my phone, first instinct was to click where Instagram normally was. But I just tried to replace that habit with doing something else. So I've recently really gotten into reading. And so times that I was just wanting to get on Instagram, I would just get on my Kindle instead. And so I feel like my, at first it was really weird and then eventually I just got used to it. And I've noticed I'm spending my time a lot better and I've had a lot better time management just because I'm not scrolling on Instagram for hours. So yeah, I would say that's my advice. Like find something to replace that just because it's really hard to replace a hobby if you don't have, or get rid of a hobby if you don't have something to replace it.

Video 3 Transcript

I did a social media fast when I was like 13 because one of our church leaders asked us to do it and it was an awesome experience because at that time I was on my phone way too much. I was on it at school and work like literally all the time so just taking a whole week off of social media was so good for me and I remember just feeling a lot more calm, being a lot more focused on my classes, being more focused on volleyball at the time, that was a big part of my life. So the social media fast, I felt like it brought me closer to Jesus and just kept me really grounded.

Video 4 Transcript

So ever since I have deleted Social media like the apps from my phone I've noticed that I I don't I don't use it as like a it's like an instant boredom cure Which has been super good because I think all of us just like almost instinctively like well without even thinking Maybe instinctively isn't a great word, but without even thinking We'll go into it like when you have like a few minutes of spare time To try and cure boredom but I've seen

Video 5 Transcript

The times that I've done some fasting for social media have actually been very helpful. Sometimes I feel like I go through a rabbit hole and where I spend hours and hours on social media without really like knowing how much time I'm spending on it. So I feel like when I've done it, I can see that I actually have more time, some downtime, more downtime than I thought. And I've been able to actually do more productive things during that time. And also it makes me feel like I don't even need my phone that much because I feel like a lot of times I grab it to go on social media and when you don't have those apps, you just kind of don't really need your phone anymore. And I feel like it's easier to also be more present wherever I'm at because I'm not on my phone all the time. And it can actually be very relieving. And usually I end up coming back because I want to like stay in touch with people and stuff like that. But there are really many other ways you can stay in touch. You just have to like look for them. So that's my experience.

Video 6 Transcript

I'm gonna give some contrary advice. I'd say don't do a fast. I mean unless you have a serious issue because then you'll come back and be even more Oh, I don't know obsessed with it. So I think actually just limiting the amount you're doing is the best way to move forward like Fasting completely can actually drive some people to obsession when they get back and I've done a lot of both ways I'd recommend just shortening it to a certain like block of time

Video 7 Transcript

So for the past little bit I have deleted social media. It has been super cool. I've done periods in which I have just completely avoided it. Now like on a more daily basis, it's not daily, it was like maybe once or twice every week or two. I like force myself to go into it by looking up, like I have to go to the website online instead of just having the app. And I also have this app called OneSec that like I go onto the website, like Instagram for example, and it will take me to the app OneSec. And I can't get into Instagram without going to this other app that forces me to think about it for a few seconds and really make sure that I want to go into it.

Video 8 Transcript

So I have social media fasted multiple times. I always feel rejuvenated afterwards deleting everything on my phone or off of my phone, deleting everything off of my phone and then just spending more time with people around me. It's crazy how much time, extra time I have whenever I don't have those social media apps on my phone distracting me. I think that everybody really should do that, you know, once every quarter, once a year, whatever it needs to be, just to kind of remind yourself like, hey, this is not everything. This is not what I need to be obsessed with. This is not what I need to spend my time doing. It's nice to have as like a little treat or dessert, but it's not something that I need to do all of the time.

Video 9 Transcript

So I did a 40-day fast from Instagram not long ago, and actually ended up that after I was able to go back on to Instagram, I noticed that if I went on, I'd only look at it for a few minutes and then I would go off, and then I wouldn't even think about it again for like a week, or even longer than that. And so it seemed like it really helped to just kind of completely stop for the 40 days. And what I also did is I replaced it with other things, and so that really helped. So I think that's the biggest thing is you need to replace it with other things, and then you don't think about it much, and then you can get into the habit of completely stopping. But I did add I've done Facebook fasts as well in the past. I've never completely gotten off of Facebook. But...