48 hours without social media seems almost impossible to most teens. However, 48 hours off of social media can open some teen’s eyes to how damaging social media can be. I took 2 days off of social media to see how different things were and the positive and negative impacts. On Friday, I was at school for most of the day, but on Saturday I had the entire day to fill with things other than social media.

As soon as I woke up on Friday morning, I enforced the no social media policy. This first day seemed somewhat easy to manage because I was at school for 7 hours. Although, I found out quickly that it was a little harder than I originally thought. A few classes got done early and I had time at the end of that class before the bell rang. During this spare time, I normally turned to my social apps to catch up on what I had missed during my class. I usually did this because there is never enough time to take out my computer and work on homework or take out my book to read. At first, it was hard to adapt, but eventually during my later periods, I was able to just sit in my seat and wait for the class to begin or end. Overall, the school day was really good because I did have to constantly worry about who’s snapchat I had to answer and whether or not my BeReal went off for the day.

However, the trouble came when I got home from school. Without scrolling through TikTok for hours and hours, there were very few options for me. One of my options was reading. I love reading and it is my favorite hobby. Most times, however, I have to be in the mood to read and I never really force myself into reading. Without my social apps, I spent most of my later afternoon and early evening reading until I was hungry. Then after I ate, I watched different TV shows. What was different about this was that normally, I go on my phone while watching shows, so I was never really watching the show, it was just on in the background. Without my phone I paid more attention to watch the show. It was interesting to realize how much I tune out a show when I go on my phone. At the end of Friday, I had a total screen time of 1 hour and 44 minutes.

Saturday was my second full day without my social media apps. In the end, it turned out to be so much better than Friday. Going into Saturday, I did feel more confident in myself because of the fact that I had a day already under my belt. On Saturday, I tried to find time to leave the house. So the whole day wasn’t completely empty. During those times, however, I felt more present. Without social media, I didn’t have to or want to worry about taking pictures to maybe post later. I didn’t worry about what my friends were doing at that exact moment. I thought about myself and what I was doing at that moment. Without social media always hanging over my head, I got to enjoy my day and be present with my surroundings. At the end of the day, my total screen time was 1 hour and 56 minutes.

Going 48 hours without social media may seem really hard to a lot of teenagers. I believe that it was one of the best experiences and decisions I’ve made in awhile. This is coming from a teen who is incredibly addicted to social media. Without the notifications showing up on my homescreen, I was less inclined and tempted to open my phone in the first place. 48 hours without the apps that consume a teen’s everyday life can be eye opening to the dangers of social media. There are lots of dangers, such as mental health, self image, isolation, loss of sleep and so many more.