I first realized that I needed to break up with my iPhone when I started at Oxford College this past January.
I deleted the Instagram account I have used since fifth grade in February. I have not seen a TikTok since July. I can open any social media app on my phone a maximum of six times per day and my phone shuts down entirely at midnight when my Opal app informs me it is time for bed.
The past eight months have been the brightest of my life. It would be unfair to attribute all of that joy to my decreased screen time (I could reach up to 16 hours a day in early January and now rarely surpass three), as this time offline has been characterized by my first semester at college and a summer of reunions with dear friends from home. Markedly, it is that exact abundance of other contributors to my happiness that have made me so keenly aware of the negative effects social media has on my day-to-day living.
As I spend less time on my iPhone, I have also become much more aware of how I feel on days when I spend more time than usual online. Opal, my screen time app, allows me to restrict iPhone access all day with a set number of daily unlocks, unlike Apple Screen Time, which only allows you to restrict to a total number of minutes per day. However, when I unlock social media after not having used it for a few hours, I immediately notice an unconscious uptick in anxiety. If I unlock an app while hanging out with a friend, I become instantly aware of my own distraction from their presence. In the months since I have deleted TikTok, I have seen entirely unintentional improvements in my concentration — and my sense of humor.
Funnily enough, I never noticed any of these things while I was spending two-thirds of my day online. Like the vast majority of people I know, I took the constant companionship of my iPhone and the picture-perfect, algorithm-generated world within it as an unavoidable and often welcome necessity of everyday life. It was only a few days after I impulsively decided to forcibly cut my screen time in half that I noticed just how much of an impact it has.
Here is my advice for anybody who experiences anxiety: Delete your Instagram account. At the very least, go through both your “Following” and your “Followers” tabs and be generous with the use of the “Remove” button. There is no need for anybody to have constant access to hundreds of painstakingly curated slideshows of friends of friends of friends’ tropical vacations, career opportunities, soft launches and mirror selfies.
When I initially deleted my account, I stayed off the app entirely for around a month. I am now once again an Instagram user but have learned to maintain mental distance from the online world, even during the six times a day I am allowed to unlock the app. All of my followers are people I have had at least one conversation with in real life, which means I am somewhat genuinely invested in viewing their lives online. Many of my friends who were originally confused by my decision to go offline are now seriously considering deleting their own accounts as well.
Your iPhone and the over-filtered, constantly-accessible lives within it probably cause you more stress than you know. Having fun online with the people you know and love is the cure to the ever-present, yet often unnoticed, social media panopticon. Hone not only your ability but also your eagerness to relax and to laugh at yourself, especially when it comes to social media. No Instagram post or Snapchat message deserves more than a couple seconds of your day. The algorithms behind these social platforms are great at convincing their users that what happens onscreen is just as important, if not more so, than what happens in real life. Even 24 hours offline can make you realize that this feeling of importance is as artificial as the pixels lighting up the screen of your iPhone.
I can happily say I have made my relationship with my iPhone, and my Instagram, casual again. I highly encourage you to try doing the same, even if it is just for a few days. You may be surprised at just how much you enjoy it.
Nicole Rivkin (25Ox) is from Newton, Mass.
