By Munirah Al-Fayez

KUWAIT: Many people believe that deleting all your social media apps will cure a lot of your ills — from anxiety and depression to back pain and vision problems. Some say it is better to delete all of it for the rest of your life, while others say it is better to do a social media detox and come back to it with the ability to manage their use more easily. Kuwait Times interviewed Monera Al-Rabeah, a university student who did a social media detox, to learn about her experience. Monera said in June 2021, she decided to embark on the journey of deleting all her social media apps.

She said she was inspired to do it for a specific period to detoxify after watching videos of people who went through a similar experience. Monera added she noticed she was wasting a lot of time without being aware of the time passing by. After deleting her social media apps, Monera said she felt less anxious and had more time to try out new things and focus on her to-do lists and hobbies. The best thing about a social media detox, according to Monera, is how much it improves a person’s sleeping pattern.

She said in the past she would stay up all night on her phone, moving from one app to another, which would result in her sleeping late, due to wasting her time doing something that did not benefit her. However, Monera said after deleting her social media apps, she did not like the fact that she was not able to communicate with her friends and family as often, especially those who do not live with her at home or those who live abroad. According to her, in order to successfully detox, people should not delete social media apps all of a sudden.

She said a few days or even weeks before the detox, people should try to limit themselves from social media, so they would be able to keep up with the detox. This could be either through setting a specific amount of time for the use of social media or limiting yourself to use the apps at a specific time of day. Monera said she recommends people do a social media detox and is considering repeating it, because she says that it is worth the effort. But she added if she ever does a social media detox again, she would do it for a smaller amount of time but more frequently, so she would never reach a point of addiction again.

She recommends people who use social media apps for four hours or more to do a social media detox, especially children, adolescents and young adults. To whoever is thinking of doing a social media detox, Monera has some advice. “Do not hesitate to experience a social media free life. People should know that it is difficult for us to completely distance ourselves from the digital world, because it has become part of our lifestyle.

However, after taking some time off, you will realize how much time you have wasted unknowingly, how much time you have, and things to do better than surfing the Internet,” she said. Monera added a social media detox will make you happier, and you will have a lot of time to focus on yourself and your hobbies which will make you grow as a person.