The first thing I do after a long day at school is lay in bed, pull out my phone, and open an app.
My habits started out responsibly, but soon forms of media like YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels led to an addiction. It was so easy to skip the videos I did not want to see and keep getting the ones I wanted. This led to endless scrolling, with my eyes plastered to my phone. Picking up my phone when I was bored became a routine.
I soon realized that I wasn’t alone in my constant social media use. According to Pew Research Center, 9/10 teens say they visit YouTube daily. Every 1/5 teens say they are on Instagram and TikTok “almost constantly.”
One of the consequences of constant social media use is shortened attention spans in teens.
TikTok is a social media platform that provides viewers with short-form entertainment.
According to Pew Research Center, 63% of teens use TikTok on a daily basis. TikTok’s feed is “addictive by design” and 50% of users admit they can no longer watch longer forms of media without feeling stressed, according to an article by Social Media Psychology.
The more I scrolled, the more I noticed my attention span shortening. I could once watch a 20 minute YouTube video, but now a one minute TikTok seems long. I also noticed that when I picked up a book, the words seemed longer. I would constantly lose my place.
The effects of constant phone use are seen in the classroom as well. Psychology teacher Ms. Sherry Hibbard says she has had to change her lesson plans because of the students’ shortened attention spans.
“I have stopped showing videos I have [shown] in the past because kids have stopped paying attention,” she said. She can no longer show students videos longer than 15 minutes because they are considered “long.”
After witnessing the negative effects of my phone addiction in action, I tried different ways to limit my screen time to figure out which one worked for me. At first, I tried just deleting the apps that kept me coming back, but that didn’t work full term.
Suddenly, I realized the devices that are the source of my problem have a solution. Modern phones come with app limiters, so I put limiters on my apps.
App limiters allow the user to set a certain amount of time they can use an app. I use app limiters on YouTube and Instagram, giving me an hour on each app in total. I know an hour on each app is still a long time, but it is nowhere near the amount of time I used to spend online. My entire day does not feel consumed by my phone anymore.
On top of app limiters, I tried to use my phone less in general. I realized there were many points in my day where I was using my phone when I didn’t need it.
I consciously broke the routine of mindlessly picking up my phone the second I was hit with boredom. I stopped using my phone shopping for groceries and on short drives. I decided to focus on what was around me in real life.
Limiting my phone use has benefited me greatly. Leaving my phone behind when I did not actually need it left me less stressed because there wasn’t a temptation to pick it up constantly.
Suddenly, without my phone on me, it was no longer the only option for entertainment. I was forced to find something much more productive to do. I got back into reading and was spending more time with friends and family.
Internet addiction is something that everyone can fall victim to. The Internet and social media are designed to be addictive, and apps are and still will try their hardest to grab your attention. But, through perseverance and self control, social media addictions can be put out of sight and out of mind.
The internet is a great place, but it is also a dangerous place.
