What does Instagram do for you? Unless you’re some sort of “influencer” getting paid to post, would you say it’s making your life better?
I like Instagram as a creative outlet, but I’m not sure browsing the app is a good use of my time.
Apple recently released a new feature in iOS called “screen time”. It tells you how long you stare at your phone (and at particular apps) every day. I was pretty shocked at how much time I was spending on social media, so I started evaluating my usage. A lot of my time was being spent on two platforms.
First: Twitter.
I spend 30 minutes a day on Twitter, and while I do get some value from the platform in the form of news discovery and professional development (mostly by building relationships with others in my industry), 30 minutes is too much. I can accomplish what I need to on Twitter in 5 minutes a day – so no more perusing upon waking in the morning for me.
Second: Instagram.
Again, I like posting photos to Instagram. I feel like it’s a good creative outlet – but I haven’t posted a photo in almost a month. This means that all the time I spent on the platform in the last month was looking at other peoples photos and videos. Not good. I’m consuming, not creating, and that’s not what I want for myself. As I really monitored how I was using the app, I came to the conclusion that my time is better spent elsewhere: learning and creating.
I’m really happy Apple released screen time. It’s been eye-opening for me. I’m only allowing myself to look at Instagram and Twitter once per day now. I’ve moved them to the last screen on my phone, and honestly, I’m not missing them. Five minutes a day on social media is plenty. I feel like I’ve read more, learned more, and gotten more done in the last week than I have in a long time.