 Like I know it's kind of like cringey now to like give people your phone number, which is so weird That's weird. What is our generation? So basically, I don't know, it was probably like a month ago at this point, Facebook got in trouble You know, if you've been following the news at all and this very like upsetting Article came out in 60 minutes interview and I believe they're being sued or investigated. It's something right now I really haven't looked into it too much But one of the taglines of the article that was really popular was that it was making that social media and Facebook and Instagram I think it was Instagram specifically Like Facebook had knowledge that it was basically making teenage girls depressed and like feel worse about themselves Put in those terms made me uncomfortable because I am a part of that demographic, right? Like that is a statistic that directly applies to me and my friends and you know girls younger than me and girls You know in my same same age and it's just it's it's like humbling in its upsetting I wanted to make this because it doesn't have to be like this. I have made many videos on this topic I always sort of like talk about my own personal experience on it and Basically wrote this whole thing which I'm not gonna read because it's like super emo But I feel like oftentimes when we talk about like the dangers of social media It is talked about in a way where it's like cyber bullying and like, you know People being mean to each other on there and like it giving you like body dysmorphia and like all anxiety and like all of these Like really crazy not like crazy, but like intense terms and while those things are true Hey, that's lovely I feel like like I have lived a very normal Experience growing up on it where like socially social dynamics like in high school changed so much my real life friendships were Not like dependent on but like there was this new like layer that our parents couldn't understand or people above us couldn't really understand of like Your actual real life friends sometimes it your online life got mixed up in that and You know if you wanted to get away from a situation or pull yourself away from people or space Well, you could physically do that a lot of the times what would happen You wouldn't remove those people from your social media So you would just like keep seeing that stuff and you would like it takes up your your mind space That's that's a great way to put it But I think like when we talk about the dangers of social media like it's always like sensationalized and a lot of the Times like it's just kind of like tired. Yeah the way I put it in this Here we go Because sometimes I write weird things that I like mean to turn into videos and then I just I don't because I'm like It's a little too honest. So it's not like the sinister tale of cyberbullying I think adults who aren't on social media always jump to that It's like the first problem and don't get me wrong. That's a huge problem that I wrote hug because Spelling but really I am describing a very normal average experience growing up on the app And what that is is just like always being triggered and then I put six question marks And then I wrote out the average person is checking Instagram like 15 times a day minimum and that's not good for you Here are some reasons FOMO, okay. Yeah, this is so real So this is kind of like what inspired me to make this because I have been obviously on study abroad and Everyone especially if you are on study abroad everyone takes pictures of literally every single thing and like I am not Not like sitting here being like oh, I'm not guilty at this like I want to be abroad like I want to take a million pictures But I think Sometimes seeing everybody's like beautiful life. Yes, I'm having a great time here in Scotland is beautiful But you know, it's like I'm going to school here too. Like it's You know, you can't have the best day of your life for a whole month Like that's just not how it works so I think I am supposed to be living the highlight reel right now and Because I am now connected with people who are like on this experience with me and like I'm seeing their highlight reel and like I have watched like people above me like study abroad and like I have watched their highlight reel I'm like it is cool, but man Instagram is a lie Also like if I open up the app any night is ruined because I'm like oh I should be doing this or that and That is just not good for you in your brain number two echo chambers Okay I was thinking about this a lot too because I am here and I am talking to all sorts of different kinds of people from You know all parts of the world and it's been a really nice experience to be out of Like the binaries of America I don't know if that's like the right word, but like after 2016 I feel like most people align themselves very strictly with their political party and That's like a whole nother topic of conversation and like I do this So like again, I am not above it But it has been a very refreshing experience to be here and talk to people and not have it like that political aspect be like under aligning every single Topic of conversation and I feel like social media only makes this worse because of like Facebook and you know Instagram those things will only show you and you can look into this. There's like a million documentaries You can watch you can take a class on it and they will Touch on this topic of echo chambers and it's so true like Instagram and Facebook want to keep you on the app so they just show you things that Will basically make you angry. This is in the 60 minutes video And I will try and link that down below if you want to like learn more about it But it was all over the news like a couple weeks ago So I wouldn't be surprised if you've already seen it Yeah, basically the Facebook algorithm works off of your anger So whatever is angering you it tries to like in it. I don't think it does it on purpose, but like Maybe it did do on purpose. I don't know. Um to keep you on it longer It just like shows you more things that make you angry Which is just polarizing Everybody because you are only thinking in terms of like the things that anger you about other people and that anger you about the World all the time and that's all that you're thinking about It's all like the information that you're being introduced to about like the other like the other political parties like side you will absolutely never be able to Rationalize any good qualities about about the other side. I don't know how to put that because I'm tired But like there's more middle to everything and there's like everyone has this conversation like obviously there's more middle to everything That's bad. I go chambers are bad. Number three. I just put anger question mark I think I I think I covered that number three number four body image mental health I mean come on like it's just like it cannot be good for your mental health I just finally watched actually the saturday, which is actually after that. I wrote this but I watched bo bernum's special the 2021 he made And there's like that song that's like every everything and anything like all of the time and That is how I feel every time I open up instagram Or tiktok because it's just like an overwhelming amount of information So here we're getting to the pit of this conversation the core the the juicy center I don't know why I said that I'm about to give you the most scandalous tip It's it's going To blow your minds. You're not gonna believe it and it um, it's honestly shocking But my number one tip is delete it So one of my very close friends completely deleted social media. She is not on literally any platform And um, I think at first maybe it was a card for her But she has Come to the conclusion that it has basically been like the best decision for her life So she sent me her I don't know what this is for but she sent me her paper For school for college. And this is what she says are the benefits Um, she said that less screen time led to more productivity and living in the real world Her screen time used to be astronomical and she would procrastinate with it It also says her relationships have become more fulfilling She's invested more in people that she doesn't even know and not vested in people who she like doesn't really know about Or just sort of like random acquaintances that she had from like years ago Which I feel that and then one of her like counter arguments was like What if you lose touch with people and she said basically that if anyone needs to contact me They have my phone number and worst case if they don't they can get it Which I thought was just like a very like mature way to look at it because It does seem like it is an absolute necessity for Modern life But if you have a phone most of the people that you know and love or that you even meet Like I know it's kind of like cringy now to like give people your phone number, which is so weird That's weird. What is our generation? I'm I'm I'm constantly perplexed perplexed by us. Okay. So that was like my first My first point is delete it. Um, I accidentally deleted my account and I've talked about this in previous videos my senior of high school And it was the best Uh, I got to like start over and I didn't have to like unfollow a bunch of people because it was just like it was gone number three Unfollow or mute people regularly or delete your account and start a new one because We can have phases in our life. You know, that's that is allowed. Yeah Um number four stop posting So this is what I have really done. I haven't posted since like the pandemic I think was actually my last post is from like the weekend like that the pandemic hit or no It was like my cousin's birthday like in the pandemic. I don't know. You do not need I'm gonna as my friends Okay, you do not need to prove That you are interesting or have a good life to people that you don't know I think when it comes down to it people Are either really good or really bad at not caring if they get a lot of likes or comments getting likes Matters to a lot more people then maybe we as a society would like to admit and I think like Follower counts like I know like in high school That was like a big like big thing like how many followers you had and like a lot of that becomes less relevant Especially if you get like out of those like actual social circles in college But you know, that's what I have to say on that. Okay, so this is like another like sort of like side tangent I feel as though instagram is so Inextricably connected to who we are as people nowadays and I'm taking an art history class at the University of Edinburgh right now and uh We've had some very interesting talks and if you have seen if you don't seen the movie the fault in our stars By John Green you will know what I'm talking about. I'm pretty sure it's in that movie But there is like this really famous painting and it is um by like this. I think maybe it's a French artist and it's basically painting of a pipe, but then underneath it in French It says this is not a pipe because it's a it's a painting of a pipe and it's like supposed to be very deep and thought-provoking But I feel like that very much Describes our relation our like modern relationship to like our instagram But I think not tying your own personal identity too closely to your instagram or if you are doing like Just delete your feed sometimes or I don't know Maybe don't delete it keep everything up and just do whatever you feel like is fun Then also for other people, you know, don't take into account like your clothes say something about like who you are Like obviously your instagram is going to say something about who you are But it's all just very surface level and just try not to To take it with too much weight. How was the tangent? Okay number five is set time limits I'm really bad at these and I do not absolutely follow this at all And most of the time I just hit the button where if you set a time limit It just says like ignore for today and I just always click that and then I just forget about it But this could be a good option for you if you are like you have more willpower than I do Which I really have more willpower if I have like previously decided that I'm on like a social media break But I just have constantly have like half an hour time limits Set which like even a half an hour like that seems like a lot of time But like that goes like it goes so fast in a day. Okay number six get in the habit of putting your phone away So what I mean by this is like if you're at dinner with friends and like most people that like I know are pretty good about this Like if you're at dinner put your phone away This is the harder one if you are waiting in line for something or like you're waiting for a class to start Like I know like I have been going to the gym and like taking classes and it's really awkward To just like sit there and like you don't know anybody and just like wait for your class to start Especially because it's the gym and it's like intimidating because there's always like good-looking people walking around and you're just like In the corner, but I challenge you next time to not pick up your phone and just like grow confident Not always having to to like entertain yourself. I don't know what it's actually doing But I think it's a good habit because I don't want to always be that person who's like in line waiting for like my food or whatever And I'm like constantly like just like checking my phone like for no reason Just because like I don't I don't want to like be alone with my own thoughts Like you know what I mean? Like I think that that is where like our world is going to which is cute Number seven this is for like the really hardcore people So you can put gray scale on your phone So that will basically take all the color out of your phone and make everything gray And it makes your phone look very very dull and because like human being biology things that I don't understand Like we're attracted to color taking away the color will help you be on your phone less Also, try and order your apps in a specific way hide apps further away from you Or delete ones that you don't want to use also turn off your notifications That's a big one. If you don't need to have your notifications turned off turned on get rid of them That is definitely a big help because You aren't like always constantly checking to see if you've gotten notifications because like you won't you already won't have a lot of them Like I I don't have any notifications turned on for instagram or facebook or anything like that Like I just if i'm thinking of it I will check them because if I get like dms, especially now because i'm abroad I do check my dms more often because my phone number doesn't work if people are trying to contact me That is where I go to look but in a day-to-day like I don't really need to be I'm not I'm not important like nobody's Is um, I don't need to like respond to comments. I also don't post anything sometimes I do but on my other account Yeah, I don't even know this is helpful and like I am not a scientist I am not an expert in this topic literally at all these are just things that I have been thinking about because It's the world we live in and it is just a constant part of life that we live with So thank you so much for tuning in if you made it all the way to the end And um, I hope you have a good week FOMO free Still trying to be a little quiet Every time I do this that like that like tiktok comes in my head where it's like nobody's gonna know Like they're gonna know Like what I I mean, yeah hope that this made sense because if not won't be a video