In life, there are fine lines.
One fine line I have struggled to distinguish since the rise of the social media era is how much time is too much time in regard to scrolling through the internet. I have always admired individuals who were simply not interested in the digital realm, as I am quite the opposite. Social media intrigues me, it excites me, it fascinates me; but it also controlled me.
There were points throughout my days in which I could not put down my phone. My free time was plagued with Instagram photos and tweets from users I’d never met. The thought of productivity slipped out the backdoor of my mind as I consumed the lives and the thoughts of friends and strangers alike. 
Oftentimes, during periods of necessary productivity, I would simply delete certain social media apps in order to focus on my priorities. The issue, however, was that there were always more apps. It goes without saying that once I deleted the most distracting apps, the apps second in line simply rose to fill the gap.
In other words, I was trapped.
I never felt as if I had adequate time to do cool things I had interest in. What’s ironic is these ideas for interesting past times and activities were usually found throughout my social media purges. I was clicking ‘like’ on posts of people doing things I wanted to do, but never going out and actually doing them. 
This is not to suggest that social media is detrimental or destructive in any way. In fact, I think the digital age of social media is quite the opposite. The technology has opened tons of media opportunities and an entirely new job market.
However, what troubled me was that there were so many rabbit holes to fall into—leaving you aimlessly scrolling for any given amount of time, sometimes hours! Not to mention the disconnect social media creates between physical, real life relationships. Under no circumstances do I believe a group of individuals should scroll through their phones at a dinner table, avoiding real conversation. 
So what was the solution?
Well, that’s simple—I quit. I went a step further than just deleting my apps. I archived and deleted my accounts. My Twitter, though it pained me, was the first to go. Second was my private Instagram account. After that came a thorough detox of my Snapchat friends list, with all other followers/friends lists succeeding.
And amazingly, I finally had time and started doing the things I “hadn’t had time for” in the past. I read books before I went to bed instead of timelines. I began writing thoughtful entries in a journal instead of tweeting mindlessly. I took time to sketch and draw my surroundings instead of taking a photo of them for Instagram.
While social media can be great, it is crucial to be able to distinguish your own individual limits. I personally needed to take a very large step backward. Perhaps others may not, but it is still essential to be conscious of the time you are spending online and what the trade-offs are.
