Here’s the Thing About Social Media: Detox Data Project

This past week, I experimented with my habits – specifically my social media habits. I already set boundaries with my phone and screen time because of my uncanny talent for distraction. But there is one app that I’ll cheat my system for: TikTok.

And by no means, am I a creator on the app, which kind of makes this situation juuust a tad more concerning. I mostly just watch and send them to friends. There is an addictive quality about TikTok, which may be the very reason for my poor habits revolving around it. The first is its “For You” page (FYP). TikTok presents its users with videos that interest them at random, depended on what’s popular on the app. Users can then say that they like or dislike the videos, tailoring the experience to their specific niches. It’s fondly referred to as “the algorithm”.

So with the combination of new, yet ultra-specific content and an infinite scroll, users like me are prone to getting lost in their little world. I call it a TikTok blackout. Sometimes, I’ll even get a “digital wellbeing check” from the app’s account, a video where a creator will tell you to take a break from your screen. That’s when I know I’ve blacked out too long.

As a result, when my professor asked our class to do a “Detox Data Project”, giving up something digital for a week, I decided on TikTok. I’ve collected my findings, which you’ll see below.

I’ll take you through my day-to-day because there’s only so much I could fit onto a cute lil infographic.

Day 1: The first day, I wanted to commit, but I accidentally tapped on the TikTok icon for a total of twelve times. It’s almost like muscle-memory, a phrase my childhood piano teacher would use. I’ve built a response to compulsively check my notifications whenever I see a little red bubble.

I thought about what I’d miss about the app while I was gone, and it wasn’t the FYP, but the creators I follow. I think the ones I follow most are people who not only post interesting content but also relatable, diary-like posts in between the viral moments. I thought about how I’d miss the little life updates or silly random thoughts. But that just means that I’ll have more to watch when this is over!

Day 2: Honestly, this project is exposing me… I didn’t realize how ingrained my compulsion to check the app was. When I thought about TikTok today, I thought about both this project and what I could be missing. There’s a popular makeup artist, @abbyartistry who posts these incredibly creative looks that I love seeing. She posts pretty much every day, and I actually started to miss seeing her looks! Wow…

Day 3: Okay, today I decided to do a fun creative project because I found myself having a little more time than usual. I embroidered a canvas hoop with Phoebe Bridgerslyrics as a gift for my friend, and I love how it turned out! (hoop pictured to the right). I didn’t think about TikTok much today, but it was nice! I didn’t feel like I NEEDED to check it for the first time since I started this project

Day 4: Today was not very busy, so I was definitely on my phone a lot more. I avoided TikTok, but I got a few sent to me via text which is dangerous territory! Mostly because when someone sends something through text, you’re supposed to react to that thing. I thought about watching them, but decided against it because I only have one day left of this project, and I can just watch and respond on Sunday.

Day 5: Last day! Today, was a Saturday, so I made some fig jam and goat cheese crepes for my family (yes I’m linking the recipe, they were delicious), and then proceeded to deep clean the house. After that, I ran a few errands. No time for TikTok! I was barely on my phone, but the 18 notifications were enough to trigger my muscle memory a few times.

I’m honestly pretty excited to get back on the app, is that bad? But I will say, I did have a lot more time to do the things that I really enjoy.

Conclusions

Reflecting on the week I’ve had, I think I’ve learned a few things. For one, this experiment reinforced some beliefs that I have come to discover over the recent years of my life. For one, I’m more productive and creative offline than online. When I spent less time on my phone, I found myself writing, playing music, making art, and cooking more. And all of these things are what make life so enjoyable, at least to me.

The more time I spent doing things that were fulfilling to me, the less I craved or even thought about my phone and those notifications waiting for me.

And this has rung true for as long as I’ve started using social media conscientiously. Any time I felt like I had a really good day, I was barely on my phone.

In Lydia Denworth’s article, “Social Media has Not Destroyed a Generation” published in Scientific American, she writes about the fallacies that lie within the mainstream social media stance. While many argue that the rise of the internet and social media is this festering black hole that causes bouts of depression, anxiety, and loneliness – especially in teens – Denworth argues the opposite. She points out that there is no definitive research on social media use affecting mental health, but rather mental health affecting social media use.

She quotes psychologist, Jeff Hancock,

“When you have higher well-being, you use social media less, which suggests that well-being is driving [how much use is made of] social media to some degree.”

This resonated with my own experiences, demonstrated by the Detox Data Project. When I was busy, both with activities that were fulfilling and those of necessity, I found no need to hop onto social media. I was happy to respond to texts every so often but left not only TikTok but the majority of my apps untouched for the day. On those days, I felt productive, energized, and less anxious.

In Chapter 3 of Cal Newport’s Deep Work, he dives into the neurological, psychological, and philosophical benefits to deep work and the pitfalls of the shallows. While discussing the neurological side of depth and meaning, Newport quotes science writer, Winnifred Gallagher,

“Like fingers pointing to the moon, other diverse disciplines from anthropology to education, behavioral economics to family counseling, similarly suggest that the skillful management of attention is the sine qua non of the good life and the key to improving virtually every aspect of your experience.”

This is relevant to another conclusion I drew from this experiment: TikTok is time consuming. The “TikTok Blackout” I mentioned in the beginning of this blog post is an attention hole. Fixating on the infinite scroll makes it harder to think about other, more pressing matters. When you fall down that hole, you can’t really see anything else, can you?

Of course, this doesn’t apply to TikTok alone. Here’s the thing about social media – all apps have a never-ending pile of content waiting for their users to facilitate extended time spent on the app, thus drawing ad revenue. But just as I have found that finding balance between the online and offline for the apps that came before it, I ought to apply this strategy to TikTok as well.